Independence is a very popular ethical value in recent years . Associated with the notion of freedom, justice and self-determination, many countries in recent centuries have shed their colonial ties to become states with their own rights and legislation.

Although it is a term widely used in politics, independence must also be a value on which to base the action and thought of every human being. Assuming that we can act independently of certain conditions can lead us to higher levels of self-awareness.

The Best Quotes and Famous Quotations on Independence

In this article we will compile the best phrases of independence pronounced by great thinkers , politicians and philosophers of history.

1. The best teamwork comes from people working independently toward a common goal (James Cash Penney)

A way to give specific weight to collaboration.

2. Nothing is more valuable than independence and freedom (Ho Chi Minh)

Perhaps, the fundamental value of prosperous societies.

3. Independence doesn’t mean you get to decide the way you want. (Stephen Breyer)

One of those phrases of independence that invite us to reflect.

4. Independence is to act with conscience but with faith. (Juan Armando Corbin)

The Argentine psychologist spoke thus about the possibility of acting freely and autonomously.

5. True freedom and independence can only exist in doing the right thing (Brigham Young)

An ethical maxim to be applied to any political or social action.

6. Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchorage for national independence. (David Ben-Gurion)

It is not a question of identity, but of shared ethics.

7. Independence is a very subjective assessment (P. Chidambaram)

Relativizing this moral value, which depends on a general feeling of the population.

8. Independence, like honor, is a rocky island without beaches (Napoleon Bonaparte)

The French conqueror drew this metaphor about independence.

9. The Independence Day of many states has its reason to be in the calamities suffered during centuries of subalternity. (Benjamin Franklin)

The colonies were historically subjected to the yoke of the metropolis.

10. The beauty of independence, the departure, actions that rely on themselves. (Walt Whitman)

Great line by the American poet.

11. Originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity, not antagonism. (George Henry Lewes)

Well understood, independence should be a creative and honest outburst.

12. Independence does not mean chauvinism or rigid nationalism. (Said Musa)

A way of understanding independence that clashes with other forms of identity patriotism.

13. Impatience is the mark of independence, not of slavery. (Marianne Moore)

A brief reflection by the American poet.

14. The independent character arises from being able to rely on oneself. (Francis Grandmontagne)

Being autonomous means being free.

15. Let no one else own it. (Paracelsus)

To govern oneself is a necessary condition to be able to govern others with rigour and effectiveness.

16. Loneliness is independence. (Hermann Hesse)

Lonely people often have a very unique view of things that happen around them.

17. It is better to be wrong by following your own path than to be right by following the path of another. (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

The Russian author, on independence of thought.

18. The most unforgivable sin in society is independence of thought. (Emma Goldman)

The feminist author thus defined the risk of having a free and autonomous thought.

19. Always independent, never isolated. (Emilio Visconti Ventosa)

Independent thinking is not achieved by isolating oneself from reality, but by grasping it day after day.

20. If we want Central America, our worthy homeland, to be an independent, free and happy nation, we must make all the sacrifices that independence demands. (José Cecilio del Valle)

A political thought about the courage needed for a people to be governed from within.

21. Make the children seek what they are able to find by their own strength. (Johann Heinrich Pestazzoli)

A way to educate children to be proactive and self-effacing.

22. True independence lies in the following three words: living with little. (William Cobbett)

Austerity is a symbol of intellectual, material and moral freedom.

23. Be your own palace or the world will be your prison. (John Donne)

If you’re not happy with the housing you’ve been given, the world is probably an abhorrent place for you.

24. Independence means that you decide according to the law and the facts. (Stephen Breyer)

Of legality and its influence on the notion of independence.

25. To educate a child is to teach him to do without us. (Ernest Legouvé)

A great phrase of freedom and independence.

26. Independence has always been my desire; dependence has always been my destiny. (Paul Verlaine)

Even if we don’t want to, we are subject to many influences that anchor us to certain cognitive biases.

27. A minister of the emperor passed by and said to Diogenes, “Oh, Diogenes! If you would learn to be more submissive and flatter the emperor more, you would not have to eat so many lentils. Diogenes answered, “If you learned to eat lentils, you wouldn’t have to be so submissive and flatter the emperor. (Diogenes the Cynic)

A great answer that shows us the irreducible character of this Greek thinker.

28. The greatest thing in the world is knowing how to be self-sufficient. (Michel de Montaigne)

There is nothing more important or advantageous on many levels.

29. The powerful man in power succumbs; the man of money, in money; the servile and humble, in service; the pleasure-seeker, in pleasures. And so the steppe wolf succumbed in his independence. (Hermann Hesse)

The German philosopher spoke thus about the dangers that lead to dependence.

30. It’s hard to make a man understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. (Upton Sinclair)

On intellectual ethics in a context where the worker has little choice if he wants to subsist.

31. The general happiness of a village rests on the individual independence of its inhabitants. (Josep Pla)

The Catalan author spoke thus about the happiness of a whole community.

32. Think badly, but in every case, think for yourself. (Doris Lessing)

At least don’t get carried away by the gregarious thinking of the masses.

33. Part of your heritage in this society is the opportunity to achieve financial independence. (Jim Rohn)

An idea that can make you better at your financial affairs.

34. One should seek to be autonomous in the important and dependent in the trivial. (Jorge González Moore)

A great reflection to apply to our daily life.

35. We think we can do without the others, we are flattered to feel independent. (Fernando Savater)

The Spanish philosopher knows the limits of personal autonomy.

36. The eyes of others are our prisons, their thoughts are our cages. (Virginia Woolf)

A great metaphor that illustrates the goodness of the difference between subjects.

37. Diversity: the art of thinking independently, all together (Malcolm Forbes)

A paradox that explains the power of cooperation between different but valuable people.

38. To be independent is a matter for a small minority; it is the privilege of the strong. (Friedrich Nietzsche)

The German philosopher spoke thus about people who manage to think for themselves.

39. The best gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence. (Denis Waitley)

A form of education based on two fundamental pillars.

40. Independence of thought is the noblest aristocracy. (René de Chateaubriand)

A reflection on independence in thought and action.

41. The world is independent of my will. (Ludwig Wittgenstein)

Although we are thinking beings, reality is stubborn and does not easily modulate.

42. The worst thing is to fail with other people’s ideas. (Helenio Herrera)

If you’re going to make a mistake, at least go with your gut.

43. I am an independentist, but not a nationalist. (Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira)

The independence leader of ERC, a Catalan political formation, explaining that independence has pragmatic foundations, not identity.

44. It is better to be wrong by following your own path than to be right by following the path of another. (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

A phrase of independence very similar to the one pronounced by football coach Helenio Herrera.

45. Injustice, in the end, generates independence. (Voltaire)

The repetition of situations of manifest injustice ends up leading to a unilateral rupture.