--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Autonomy is impossible as long as one is…" description: "\"Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything.\" — Gabor Mate" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/gabor-mat-1410_autonomy_autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is_21859.png" --- # Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything. ![“Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything.” quote by Gabor Mate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/gabor-mat-1410_autonomy_autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is_21859.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/gabor-mat-1410_autonomy_autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is_21859.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/gabor-mat-1410_autonomy_autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is_21859.png) > “Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything.” [Gabor Mate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom cannot exist when actions are motivated by external forces or internal compulsions; true autonomy requires self‑determination beyond any drive. **In simple terms:** Autonomy needs self‑determination. Key Takeaway Control over motivations is essential for freedom. Themes Freedom Self‑determination Motivation Psychology Existentialism Mood Reflective Serene Introspective Type Philosophical Psychological Motivational When to use this quote - Personal decision‑making - Therapeutic self‑exploration - Leadership autonomy - Creative work - Spiritual practice Key Concepts Agency Determinism Responsibility Inner drive Practical Applications - Designing autonomy‑supportive environments - Coaching for intrinsic motivation Questions to Reflect On - What drives your choices? - How can you reduce external influences? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autonomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autonomy/) [Autonomy Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autonomy-impossible-399647/) [Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driven/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Impossible Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible-long-399648/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-driven-399649/) ## Related quotes > [For lawful power is still superior found, When long driven back, at length it stands the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/for-lawful-power-is-still-superior-found-when-long-driven-back-at/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [There are many things that seem impossible only so long as one does not attempt them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/there-are-many-things-that-seem-impossible-only-so-long-as-one-does/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [“We can, Each of us, Do the impossible As long as we can convince ourselves That it has been done before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/we-can-each-of-us-do-the-impossible-as-long-as-we-can-convince/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [Scientists have proven that it's impossible to long-jump 30 feet, but I don't listen to that kind of talk. Thoughts like that have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-lewis/scientists-have-proven-that-it-s-impossible-to-long-jump-30-feet-but/) [Carl Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-lewis/) > [Nothing is impossible as long as you have faith in HIM...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-is-impossible-as-long-as-you-have-faith-in-him/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A clear victory of satyagraha is impossible so long as there is ill will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-clear-victory-of-satyagraha-is-impossible-so-long-as-there-is-ill/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Nothing in life is ever impossible as long as you believe. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/nothing-in-life-is-ever-impossible-as-long-as-you-believe/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) > [If you get into entrepreneurshi p driven by profit, you are a lot more likely to fail. The entrepreneurs who succeed usually want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/if-you-get-into-entrepreneurshi-p-driven-by-profit-you-are-a-lot-more/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/we-could-encourage-the-best-qualities-of-youthfulness-curiosity/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Throughout the last century there were multiple attempts at giving Afghan women more autonomy, to change marriage laws, to abolish the practice of bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/throughout-the-last-century-there-were-multiple-attempts-at-giving/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The first step toward maintaining autonomy in any programmed environment is to be aware that there's programming going on. It's as simple as understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/the-first-step-toward-maintaining-autonomy-in-any-programmed/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [It’s hard to feel attracted to someone who has abandoned her sense of autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/it-s-hard-to-feel-attracted-to-someone-who-has-abandoned-her-sense-of/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“The idea of autonomy denies that we are born into a world that existed prior to us. It posits an essential aloneness; an autonomous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-b-crawford/the-idea-of-autonomy-denies-that-we-are-born-into-a-world-that/) [Matthew B. Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-b-crawford/) > [I don't want to be famous famous. I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) ## More by Gabor Mate > [“As parents who make every effort we can to raise our children in loving security, we do not need to feel more guilt than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/as-parents-who-make-every-effort-we-can-to-raise-our-children-in/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The fact is, we in this society are often quite removed from our own emotional reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-fact-is-we-in-this-society-are-often-quite-removed-from-our-own/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Shame is the deepest of the “negative emotions,” a feeling we will do almost anything to avoid. Unfortunately, our abiding fear of shame impairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/shame-is-the-deepest-of-the-negative-emotions-a-feeling-we-will-do/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Many adults have not attained maturity — have not mastered being independent, self-motivated individuals capable of tending their own emotional needs and of respecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/many-adults-have-not-attained-maturity-have-not-mastered-being/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“If a mother has eight children, there are eight mothers. This is not simply because of the fact that the mother was different in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/if-a-mother-has-eight-children-there-are-eight-mothers-this-is-not/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Without attachment, the parent succeeds at most in cowing a child into obedience, at the price of grave damage to the relationship and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/without-attachment-the-parent-succeeds-at-most-in-cowing-a-child-into/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Attachment is our connection with the world. In the earliest attachment relationships, we gain or lose the ability to stay open, self-nurturing and healthy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/attachment-is-our-connection-with-the-world-in-the-earliest/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“So what you've actually got is traumatized children. When children are traumatized that affects how they feel about themselves, which is deeply ashamed because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/so-what-you-ve-actually-got-is-traumatized-children-when-children-are/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Even without world wars, revolutions and emigration, siblings growing up in the same home almost never share the same environment. More accurately, brothers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/even-without-world-wars-revolutions-and-emigration-siblings-growing/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“We think that there are people who are normal over here, and then there’s the pathological ones who have depression, anxiety, addiction or schizophrenia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/we-think-that-there-are-people-who-are-normal-over-here-and-then/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“One cannot get much more vulnerable than to expose oneself psychologically. To share oneself with another and then be misunderstood or rejected is, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/one-cannot-get-much-more-vulnerable-than-to-expose-oneself/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The areas of the cortex responsible for attention and self-regulation develop in response to the emotional interaction with the person whom we may call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-areas-of-the-cortex-responsible-for-attention-and-self-regulation/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Peer-oriented children live in a universe of severely limited and superficial attachments. The quest for sameness being the least vulnerable way of attaching, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/peer-oriented-children-live-in-a-universe-of-severely-limited-and/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world’s population but houses nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-united-states-contains-less-than-5-percent-of-the-world-s/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“In Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom reports that Morrie Schwartz, his former professor terminally ill with ALS, “was intent on proving that the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/in-tuesdays-with-morrie-mitch-albom-reports-that-morrie-schwartz-his/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) [Explore all 244 Gabor Mate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) ## More Autonomy quotes > [I don't want to be famous famous. I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) > [“The idea of autonomy denies that we are born into a world that existed prior to us. It posits an essential aloneness; an autonomous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-b-crawford/the-idea-of-autonomy-denies-that-we-are-born-into-a-world-that/) [Matthew B. Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-b-crawford/) > [It’s hard to feel attracted to someone who has abandoned her sense of autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/it-s-hard-to-feel-attracted-to-someone-who-has-abandoned-her-sense-of/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [The first step toward maintaining autonomy in any programmed environment is to be aware that there's programming going on. It's as simple as understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/the-first-step-toward-maintaining-autonomy-in-any-programmed/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Throughout the last century there were multiple attempts at giving Afghan women more autonomy, to change marriage laws, to abolish the practice of bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/throughout-the-last-century-there-were-multiple-attempts-at-giving/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/we-could-encourage-the-best-qualities-of-youthfulness-curiosity/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“She isn't anybody's,' Rook said darkly. 'Son. she's not yours, either," Sarah Fleet said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaida-jones/she-isn-t-anybody-s-rook-said-darkly-son-she-s-not-yours-either-sarah/) [Jaida Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaida-jones/) > [The Palestinian Arabs will have their autonomy, we will have our security. We shall live together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menachem-begin/the-palestinian-arabs-will-have-their-autonomy-we-will-have-our/) [Menachem Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menachem-begin/) > [Autonomy means women defining themselves and the values by which they will live, and beginning to think of institutional arrangements which will order their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/autonomy-means-women-defining-themselves-and-the-values-by-which-they/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [“Autonomous people assert themselves against the status quo. They don't accept the prevailing opinion just because it's the one given to them. Nothing creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brito/autonomous-people-assert-themselves-against-the-status-quo-they-don-t/) [Maria Brito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brito/) > [Black people cannot and will not become integrated into American society on any terms but those of self-determination and autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/black-people-cannot-and-will-not-become-integrated-into-american/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-civil-magistrate-cannot-function-without-some-ethical-guidance/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Who hath desires must ever fearful be; Who lives in fear cannot be counted free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burton/who-hath-desires-must-ever-fearful-be-who-lives-in-fear-cannot-be/) [Robert Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burton/) > [The fey in this country keep to themselves, and are a separate nation, much like the American Indians, but with even more autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/the-fey-in-this-country-keep-to-themselves-and-are-a-separate-nation/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) [Browse all 418 Autonomy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autonomy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gabor Mate" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is-driven-by-anything/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Autonomy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is-driven-by-anything/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/gabor-mat-1410_autonomy_autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is_21859.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/gabor-mat-1410_autonomy_autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is_21859.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/gabor-mat-1410_autonomy_autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is_21859.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything.” — Gabor Mate", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gabor Mate", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Autonomy is impossible as long as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is-driven-by-anything/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is-driven-by-anything/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```