Standing Up For Oneself Quotes

“You don't cry when someone pushes you down. You get up. You get up and you fight back. And pretty soon nobody's going to shove you anymore because they'll see it's not worth it.”
― Morgan Rhodes, Gathering Darkness

“I will build myself up so high in such a short time that when he leaves me, I will become a lightning storm, a nuclear apocalypse.

I will not come out of this with nothing.”
― Frances Cha, If I Had Your Face

“Thinking for yourself and making your own decisions can be frightening. Letting go of other people’s expectations can leave you feeling empty for a time. And yet seeing yourself as an independent adult who can stand up for your own choices frees you to accept yourself as you are.”
― Ellen Bass, The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

“She had resolved to never take another step backward.”
― Kate Chopin, The Awakening

“If people keep stepping on you, wear a pointy hat.”
― Joyce Rachelle

“She seems to always get it
To have become adept at empathy
Always giving excuses for people who’ve aggrieved her
To the point it’s hard for her to hit back when necessary
All because she assumes she ‘understands’
Then, one day . . .
She finally stands up for herself
At that moment, she revels in the natural instinct of self-preservation
She realises all this while the power she’s been withholding
In a transcendent moment of epiphany
It’s all beautiful ‘cause
Now, she can get back to empathy with understanding, rather, than without.”
― Ufuoma Apoki

“By not standing up for themselves when it is appropriate, many [survivors] damage their self-esteem. They become angry and ashamed of themselves for putting up with inappropriate behavior. The more they put up with, the worse they feel. Soon, they begin to believe they don’t have a right to complain and convince themselves they are making a big thing out of nothing.”
― Beverly Engel, The Nice Girl Syndrome: Stop Being Manipulated and Abused -- And Start Standing Up for Yourself

“Get down on your knees,' Cardan says, looking insufferably pleased with himself. His fury has transmuted in to gloating. 'Beg. Make it pretty. Flowery. Worthy of me.'
...
'Beg? I echo.

For a moment, he looks surprised, but that's quickly replaced by even greater malice. 'You defied me. More than once. Your only hope is to throw yourself on my mercy in front of everyone. Do it, or I will keep hurting you until there is nothing left to hurt.'
...
There is no shame in surrender. As Taryn said, they're just words. I don't have to mean them. I can lie.

I start to lower myself to the ground. This will be over quickly, every word will taste like bile, and then it will be over.

When I open my mouth, though, nothing comes out.

I can't do it.

Instead I shake my head at the thrill running through me at the sheer lunacy of what I'm about to do. It's the thrill of leaping without being able to see the ground below you, right before you realise that's called falling. 'You think because you can humiliate me, you can control me?' I say, looking him in those black eyes. 'Well, I think you're an idiot. Since we started being tutored together, you've gone out of your way to make me feel like I'm less than you. And to coddle your ego, I have made myself less. I have made myself small, I have kept my head down. But it wasn't enough to make you leave Taryn and me alone, so I'm not going to do that anymore.

'I am going to keep on defying you. I am going to shame you with my defiance. You remind me that I am a mere mortal and you are a prince of Faerie. Well, let me remind you that means you have much to lose and I have nothing. You may win in the end, you may ensorcell me and hurt me and humiliate me, but I will make sure you lose everything I can take from you on the way down. I promise you this'- I throw his own words back at him- 'this is the least of what I can do.'

Cardan looks at me as though he's never seen me before. He looks at me as though no one has ever spoken to him like this. Maybe no one has.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“That is the trouble with standing up to people, of course. Once you start doing it, you can hardly stop.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two

“We don’t like it when women get uppity.”

“Well,” she said, “that is a bit of a problem, as I am feeling quite uppity.”
― Sarah MacLean, No Good Duke Goes Unpunished

“There is a way of reacting to insult that gives people the impression that you want more. I don't know what it is, but I seem to have mastered it.”
― Joyce Rachelle

“I’m always afraid of hurting someone. But if I never tell them anything, I hurt myself more.”
― Lisa M. Cronkhite, Disconnected

“This is a very common thing among male groups of friends. There is a person who's always taking heat from everyone else for various reasons. Not that I'm defending this behavior though, fuck no, I hate it when guys are like this; it's barbaric and stupid.

Unfortunately I think it's like an unconscious thing that just comes natural to guys when we're in groups. We take the piss out of each other all the time, prodding until we know the limits of each other and crossing the lines once in a while to test the boundaries.

Some guys who're overly-nice or don't fully understand this dynamic get completely shit on by it. If you keep excusing small actions by others that violate your boundaries, they'll just keep pushing and pushing, giving less and less respect until they know how far they're allowed to go. Having people knowing your limits and making sure to not cross them equates to respect, which is what we're after.

This doesn't mean you should to tell them all to fuck off now; that wouldn't work anymore because you've allowed them this far into your territory. It'd seem like an overreaction from you, which makes sense, right?

"We were just joking around yesterday about the same things, he seemed cool with it, but now he's all pissed for some reason, this guys a whack..."

The key thing to note if you want to avoid this in the future is to either find "nicer" friends, or to let people know when they cross a boundary. This may sound huge and dramatic, but it's honestly a really simple thing.
"Haha great job idiot you messed up" ----> "Fuck you man haha"

Simple as that; he/they poked at you and by throwing it back at him, you let him know you're not just going to take it.

If they do something that crosses your boundary, you respond appropriately; a big cross, like outright disrespecting you, means a big reaction, like telling the guy off. Does this mean you can't be nice anymore? Nope, not at all. You can still be a nice guy; most interactions with others don't involve all this boundary bullshit - and that's when the niceness in your personality can shine through.

Beyond that, it's also a personal image/confidence thing. If you truly respect yourself, how would you let anyone get away with the things they say/do to you? What if this was your little sister? Would you let others treat her the same way? If not, then why would you let them treat you this way?”
― Anonymous

“For the Gowachin, to stand alone against all adversity is the most sacred moment of existence.
— The Gowachin, a BuSab analysis”
― Frank Herbert, The Dosadi Experiment

“One has nothing to lose by defending one's rights, even if one knows one cannot succeed. But the future is long and lies in God's hands.”
― Maurice Druon, La flor de lis y el león

“The moment you start to stand for yourself is the moment the world will stand against you.”
― Aiyaz Uddin

“I wish I'd learned then that when you call someone's bluff you usually win: it's simply not what the other person is expecting. And swimming along in the slipstream of another's current is no way to live.”
― Harriet Evans, Not Without You

“Standing up for your ethical principles takes courage. Courage is the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear. When you see something happening in the workplace that just doesn’t seem right do you have the courage to stand-up and do something? What are you afraid of? Retribution, disapproval, your image, damaged relationships, or simply the unknown? Courage is about setting aside your fear and taking action for the good of yourself or someone else.

..approaching the person with whom you have a problem. This is NOT easy. Most of us don’t naturally confront people. To most of us, the courage to actually go up and talk face-to-face takes a superhuman Kristopher Kime level of courage. Your voice trembles, stomach hurts, beads of sweat roll down your face. It certainly FEELS like a life or death struggle. But remember, courage is about facing difficulty without being overcome by fear.”
― Mark S. Putnam

“What the fuck did you just say to me” she practically spits. Eden takes a deep breath and I see her straighten her shoulders, “I’m sorry my father didn’t hang around to help you mum and I’m sorry your parent’s didn’t support you either. But I have done nothing but love you since I was born, even though you’ve not done much to deserve my love; I do. But for years I have put up with all of your anger because I believed the words you spoke and I won’t do it any more mum. I will always love you, but enough is enough.”
― Sarah Clay, Never Enough

“Years of balancing home and Mission School life had taught me to seize all opportunities as soon as they arose, before they could be snatched away.”
― Ovidia Yu, The Frangipani Tree Mystery

“The secret of achieving something in life is to take a stand on what you believe. Unless you take a stand for yourself things will standstill no matter what.”
― Aiyaz Uddin, Science Behind A Perfect Life

“Civil engineers go where their work is needed. Chicago is my goal because it's the biggest challenge, and could really use this kind of change. But Shady Palms isn't perfect. I mean, it was here that I noticed which areas get the benefits of the town's services. Working in Chicago is my dream, but Shady Palms is my home. I want to make Shady Palms the safest and most equal place possible."
"By overseeing construction projects?" Beth didn't bother to keep the mocking tone out of her voice, which made the other girls in the group snicker, but it didn't seem to affect Joy.
Her earnestness shone through as she said, "You work for the Thompsons and are a member of their family. You know that construction projects are political---both in who gets them and which areas benefit from them.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Homicide and Halo-Halo

“Fairday had noticed Sadie harassing this girl and hoped she had inspired her to stand up for herself in the future. Fairday knew that most of the time, mean kids were just insecure, and if you didn't let them get to you, they usually left you alone. Bullies were only triumphant when they made other people feel smaller than they themselves felt.”
― Jessica Haight

“Jeg kunne ikke leve opp til Flo Kennedys mor som var rengjøringshjelp og av gammel slaveslekt. En dag ble hun beskyldt for å ha stjålet, med det resultat at hun tok det våte bindet fram fra skrittet og slengte det i ansiktet på Fruen.”
― Suzanne Brøgger, Creme fraiche

“This line of questioning is absurd. You don't like me, fine. I don't much care for you, either. Eddie does, so I'll be civil because you don't mean a hill of beans to me. But, I refuse to remain here and be treated in such a rude manner."
"Surely you wouldn't expect special treatment as the sheriff's daughter, would you?"
Betsy could do way better than this bozo. "Of course not." I placed both hands on the table as I leaned closer to him. "As you so thoughtfully brought back to my attention, not that I needed a reminder, I've had experience with insecure men who need to demean women to make themselves feel powerful." I smiled sweetly at him.
"What are you insinuating, Miss Brown?"
I'd hit a nerve. Good. "You're a smart fella, you'll figure it out.”
― Kate Young, Southern Sass and a Crispy Corpse

“When I became a young woman I realised, through my own suffering and mistakes, that kindness without courage made me a vulnerable and crippled citizen. Without courage, other people could, and would, hurt me, dishonour my talents, and take anything from me that they wanted for themselves. I was fair game and an easy target.”
― Donna Goddard, Love's Longing

“You know what I have learnt, when you can't stand up for others you lack the spine, which means you can never truly stand up for your own self. And vice versa. It is as basic and simple as that, when you can't man up the courage and voice up against the evils of this society, you become a part of that evil cycle, you become the very vacuum through which the injustices flow. But it's not your fault, it's called Spine, and God hasn't really graced everyone with it.

Anyway, this isn't gonna be a talk invested on such creatures, neither on those who try their hardest to pull others down by body-shaming, age-shaming, ganging up to mock and ridicule, in short being a bully to those their darkness can't withstand the Light of.

This is for everyone, Woman and Man, who's faced such a bully in their personal space, workspace or even in their random space. You guys, stay in your Light and remember when someone is literally shaken by your power and feel their failures as a living success on your being, they try to pull you down. It's like their mind cannot fathom how you shine all along that too so spontaneously and palpably, while those poor insecure beings have to literally wear a mask or turn in tactics that their soul knows the cost of.

This is for everyone, who stands up for their own selves and for every other soul who they see deserve (no, not need but deserve, these two words have very different connotations) their support at the moment, to fight the menaces of this evil system.
This is a Thank You note to every soul who fights these Bullies with a fierce strength and sunshine.
You go, guys.
You've got this.

Every day, we lose countless people from suicides to depression, and one of the core reasons to that is always going to be these cruel and worthless beings who try to pull down another only to feel their worth, because of their own insecurities; we lose good people from children to adults, because certain dark creatures are too loud in their derogatory treatment, and certain 'neutral' people find it difficult to take a stand (after all, those words weren't hurled at you, right?), but you see that's the thing we gotta tell the good people, that their goodness is their strength not weakness, we gotta tell them to raise their voices for themselves, because honestly one clear voice is enough, always enough.
You don't have to be loud to be heard.
And if you think, they are too many and you're just one, remember a sheep moves in a herd, a lioness, oh she roars baby, and that's just pretty much enough.

And if this gives you Strength, remember every time someone tries to pull you down, someone bullies you, it's just a reflection of their own insecurities; it has absolutely nothing to do with you.
Remember who you are, and walk with your Head up.

And if you're fortunate, you will find some support coming your way in the shape of like-minded souls, true friends and souls who know what it takes to be human and stand up with a clear spine, and then be gracious enough to thank them with all your soul.

So this one's for them, who know their worth and have the heart to stand up for what's important not only for their own sake but for others around.
Because when you fight to let your goodness shine on an individual level, you also channelise the spirit of fighting for the good at the collective level.

Hope this reaches and gives courage and strength to at least a single being, remember you've got this, already.

Love & Light, always
- Debatrayee”
― Debatrayee Banerjee

“One of the toughest things in the world is to stand up for the truth.”
― Aiyaz Uddin

“Standing on your legs is much easier than standing on others legs.”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar