Self-Reliance

How can you trust your own judgment? Self-reliance means trusting inward judgment rather than surrendering thought and conduct to reputation, conformity, inherited beliefs, or changing fortune. Independence is a demanding practice: test ideas through honest action, revise opinions without fear, preserve integrity in relationships, and measure work, progress, and possessions by the abilities and character they cultivate.

Preview

Idea 8
Performing beliefs you no longer hold scatters your energy. Defending an institution merely because you belong to it takes time and strength away from work you can honestly stand behind.
Idea 9
Group allegiance can decide an argument before thought begins. When membership requires you to defend only the permitted side, your reasoning becomes advocacy for a position you have already promised to keep.
Idea 17
Do not postpone living while looking backward in regret or forward in expectation. The present is where your nature can act, rather than merely remember or anticipate a life.

Contents