Quotes from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“To be nobody but yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you somebody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. — e.e. cummings”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“An individual might say, “I don’t want to change anyone.” And yet, he might still spend a great deal of his time trying to get others to agree with his views, or trying to prevent someone from doing something he thinks will be bad for him, or trying to change people by participating in a movement over a burning issue, or voting to prevent others from doing what they want to do. In all these ways, he’s trying to change others — to make them do other than what their natures lead them to do.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“Things will get better only when you make the changes that are necessary to make them better.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“I’ve concentrated upon the things I control, and used that control to remove the restrictions and complications from my life.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“And when someone accuses you of being selfish, just remember that he’s upset only because you aren’t doing what he selfishly wants you to do.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“I’m free and happy because I accepted myself as I am and found a life that suits me”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“One person devotes his life to helping the poor. Another one lies and steals. Still another person tries to create better products and services for which he hopes to be paid handsomely. One woman devotes herself to her husband and children. Another seeks a career as a singer. In every case, the basic motivation has been the same. Each person is doing what he believes will bring him happiness. What varies between them is the means each has chosen to gain his happiness.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“He doesn’t sacrifice himself for others, nor does he expect others to be sacrificed for him. He takes the third alternative —  he  finds  relationships  that  are  mutually beneficial so that no sacrifice is required.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“The more directly individual rewards are tied to individual achievements, the greater incentive there is to increase one’s individual effort. Joint Efforts”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“Never focus your attention on anyone’s weaknesses — his temper, sloppiness, poor logic, dishonesty, whatever. Recognize these shortcomings, take them into consideration, but don’t waste your time complaining about them. Instead, pay attention to what your actions should be in order to deal with him.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“To be self-reliant is to recognize that no one else is as concerned about your future as you are and that no one knows as much about you as you do.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“There’s no final resting place — short of death — where you can stop having to earn what you want.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“Freedom from exploitation is perhaps the easiest freedom to get. All you have to do is to stop participating in any relationship — of any kind — that doesn’t suit you. It”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“As I lie on my couch by the fireplace, looking out from my hillside home at the snow leading down to the ocean, with the right woman in my arms, a glass of Bordeaux beside me and a Puccini opera on the stereo system, knowing that I’ve earned the pleasure I feel, I’m so glad I didn’t let someone else decide what’s best for me.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“A big philosophical breakthrough for me was the realization that my own freedom was not only possible, but far more important than the establishment of a free society.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“The answer is simple: You are you, the person who will live with the consequences of what you do. No one else can be responsible, because no one else will experience the consequences of your actions as you will.”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

“you’re wrong, you will suffer for it. If you’re right, you will find happiness. You have to be the one to decide. “Who are you to know?” It’s your future at stake. You have to know. Freedom comes only from seeing the ignorance of your critics and discovering the emptiness of their virtue. — David Seabury”
― quote from How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

Popular quotes

“In games there are rules, but in life the rules keep changing.”
― Kim Stanley Robinson, quote from Red Mars

“the lust for power is not rooted in strength but in weakness. It is the expression of the inability of the individual self to stand alone and live. It is the desperate attempt to gain secondary strength where genuine strength is lacking. The word power has a twofold meaning. One is the possession of power over somebody, the ability to dominate him; the other meaning is the possession of power to do something, to be able, to be potent. The latter meaning has nothing to do with domination; it expresses mastery in the sense of ability.”
― Erich Fromm, quote from Escape from Freedom

“ I'm the reason she's going to have to make a choice, one I"m not even sure I want her to make any more.”
― K. Bromberg, quote from Crashed

“Perfection is God; simplicity is perfection. The curse of curses is that men will not let truths like these alone.”
― Lew Wallace, quote from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

“Can something be created in language independently of the people who use the language? Can language become a self-replicating system or …’ I’m drunk, I suddenly realise, so I shut up. But”
― Scarlett Thomas, quote from The End of Mr. Y

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.