Character – the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life – is the source from which self-respect springs.

Joan Didion
About This Quote

Character, the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life, is the source from which self-respect springs. This quote by author and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson captures the essence of what it means to be a good person. This sense of personal responsibility is at the core of living with integrity. You can always control your behavior; you cannot control others' behavior.

Source: On Selfrespect

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  1. Character – the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life – is the source from which self-respect springs.
  2. I tell you this true story just to prove that I can. That my frailty has not yet reached a point at which I can no longer tell a true story.
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