--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wish my life and decisions to depend on…" description: "\"“I wish my life and decisions to depend on myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the instrument of my own, not of other men's, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/isaiah-berlin-10150_freedom-of-thought_i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-o_2508745.jpg" --- # I wish my life and decisions to depend on myself, not on… ![“I wish my life and decisions to depend on myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the instrument of my own, not of other men's, acts of will. I wish to be a subject, not an object; to be moved by reasons, by conscious purposes, which are my own, not by causes which affect me…” quote by Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/isaiah-berlin-10150_freedom-of-thought_i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-o_2508745.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/isaiah-berlin-10150_freedom-of-thought_i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-o_2508745.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/isaiah-berlin-10150_freedom-of-thought_i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-o_2508745.jpg) > ““I wish my life and decisions to depend on myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the instrument of my own, not of other men's, acts of will. I wish to be a subject, not an object; to be moved by reasons, by conscious purposes, which are my own, not by causes which affect me, as it were, from outside. I wish to be somebody, not nobody; a doer - deciding, not being decided for, self-directed and not acted upon by external nature or by other men as if I were a thing, or an animal, or a slave incapable of playing a human role, that is, of conceiving goals and policies of my own and realising them. This is at least part of what I mean when I say that I am rational, and that it is my reason that distinguishes me as a human being from the rest of the world. I wish, above all. to be conscious of myself as a thinking, willing, active being, bearing responsibility for my choices and able to explain them by reference to my own ideas and purposes. I feel free to the degree that I believe this to be true, and enslaved to the degree that I am made to realise that it is not.”” [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He desires self-determination, to act as a rational agent rather than being driven by external forces. **In simple terms:** He wants to be in control of his own life. Key Takeaway Cultivate autonomy and rational self‑governance. Themes autonomy rationality self‑direction Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - making personal decisions - setting goals - reflecting on motivations - standing up to external pressures - defining personal values Key Concepts free will responsibility human agency Questions to Reflect On - What external factors shape your choices? - How can you balance freedom with responsibility? A Different Perspective Complete independence is impossible; external influences always affect us. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bearing Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bearing-responsibility-1135448/) [Conscious Purposes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious-purposes-1135445/) [Decided Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decided-self-1135446/) [Freedom of thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-of-thought/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life And Decisions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-decisions-227204/) [Purposes Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purposes-feel-1135447/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [I wish my life and decisions to depend upon myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the instrument of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-upon-myself-not-on-external/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“Average intelligence loves blinders, which facilitate an even trot; but a brisker and livelier intelligence desires uncertainty, risk, a play of more deceptive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-gombrowicz/average-intelligence-loves-blinders-which-facilitate-an-even-trot-but/) [Witold Gombrowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witold-gombrowicz/) > [If mankind is to profit freely from the small and sporadic crop of the heroically gifted it produces, it will have to cultivate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/if-mankind-is-to-profit-freely-from-the-small-and-sporadic-crop-of/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [“However much we champion freedom of thought, we actually spend much of our time censoring input. We seek out publications that mirror or support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-trivers/however-much-we-champion-freedom-of-thought-we-actually-spend-much-of/) [Robert Trivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-trivers/) > [If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-this-nation-is-to-be-wise-as-well-as-strong-if-we-are-to-achieve/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And what do Democrats stand for, if they are so ready to defame concerned citizens as the 'mob' - a word betraying a Marie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/and-what-do-democrats-stand-for-if-they-are-so-ready-to-defame/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [“FIRST AMENDMENT No one shall give a damn about your religion. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want about prayer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trae-crowder/first-amendment-no-one-shall-give-a-damn-about-your-religion-freedom/) [Trae Crowder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trae-crowder/) > [There is nothing wrong with intellectual differences flowing from freedom of thought as long as such differences remain confined to intellectual debates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pervez-musharraf/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-intellectual-differences-flowing-from/) [Pervez Musharraf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pervez-musharraf/) > [“When the Christian Crusaders in the East came into collision with that invincible order of assassins, that order of free spirits par excellence, whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-the-christian-crusaders-in-the-east-came-into-collision-with/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [ “\[M\]an is not permitted without censure to follow his own thoughts in the search of truth, when they lead him ever so little out… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/m-an-is-not-permitted-without-censure-to-follow-his-own-thoughts-in/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [“Socrates: Have you noticed on our journey how often the citizens of this new land remind each other it is a free country? Plato:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/socrates-have-you-noticed-on-our-journey-how-often-the-citizens-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Among those liberties which we in this UNION claim for the child, due to him as a person, is freedom of thought, the function…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parents-national-education-union/among-those-liberties-which-we-in-this-union-claim-for-the-child-due/) [Parents' National Education Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parents-national-education-union/) > [The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities of higher education, for the full development of her faculties, forces of mind and body;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-strongest-reason-for-giving-woman-all-the-opportunities-of-higher/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“So long as you believe yourself to be 'only human' you have accepted life in a prison cell whose door remains locked only by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-nordby/so-long-as-you-believe-yourself-to-be-only-human-you-have-accepted/) [Jacob Nordby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-nordby/) ## More by Isaiah Berlin > [Those who have ever valued liberty for its own sake believed that to be free to choose, and not to be chosen for, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/those-who-have-ever-valued-liberty-for-its-own-sake-believed-that-to/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-is-liberty-not-equality-or-fairness-or-justice-or-human/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The world that we encounter in ordinary experience is one in which we are faced by choices equally absolute, the realisation of some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-world-that-we-encounter-in-ordinary-experience-is-one-in-which-we/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Philosophers are adults who persist in asking childish questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/philosophers-are-adults-who-persist-in-asking-childish-questions/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The history of society is the history of the inventive labors that man alter man, alter his desires, habits, outlook, relationships both to other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-history-of-society-is-the-history-of-the-inventive-labors-that/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Out of the crooked timber of humanity, nothing completely straight was ever made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/out-of-the-crooked-timber-of-humanity-nothing-completely-straight-was/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Utopias have their value -- nothing so wonderfully expands the imaginative horizons of human potentialities -- but as guides to conduct they can prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/utopias-have-their-value-nothing-so-wonderfully-expands-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Both liberty and equality are among the primary goals pursued by human beings throughout many centuries; but total liberty for wolves is death to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/both-liberty-and-equality-are-among-the-primary-goals-pursued-by/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [All forms of tampering with human beings, getting at them, shaping them against their will to your own pattern, all thought control and conditioning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/all-forms-of-tampering-with-human-beings-getting-at-them-shaping-them/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The case against the notion of historical objectivity is like the case against international law, or international morality; that it does not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-case-against-the-notion-of-historical-objectivity-is-like-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“True pluralism, as Berlin understands it, is much more tough-minded and intellectually bold: it rejects the view that all conflicts of values can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/true-pluralism-as-berlin-understands-it-is-much-more-tough-minded-and/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values, sought for themselves alone; yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-and-equality-spontaneity-and-security-happiness-and-knowledge/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [To understand is to perceive patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/to-understand-is-to-perceive-patterns/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The view that the truth is one and undivided, and the same for all men everywhere at all times, whether one finds it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-view-that-the-truth-is-one-and-undivided-and-the-same-for-all-men/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The most passionate, consistent, extreme and implacable enemy of the Enlightenment and ... all forms of rationalism ... was Johann Georg Hamann. His influence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-most-passionate-consistent-extreme-and-implacable-enemy-of-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) [Explore all 64 Isaiah Berlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## More Freedom of thought quotes > [“So long as you believe yourself to be 'only human' you have accepted life in a prison cell whose door remains locked only by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-nordby/so-long-as-you-believe-yourself-to-be-only-human-you-have-accepted/) [Jacob Nordby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-nordby/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities of higher education, for the full development of her faculties, forces of mind and body;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-strongest-reason-for-giving-woman-all-the-opportunities-of-higher/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [“Among those liberties which we in this UNION claim for the child, due to him as a person, is freedom of thought, the function…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parents-national-education-union/among-those-liberties-which-we-in-this-union-claim-for-the-child-due/) [Parents' National Education Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parents-national-education-union/) > [“Socrates: Have you noticed on our journey how often the citizens of this new land remind each other it is a free country? Plato:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/socrates-have-you-noticed-on-our-journey-how-often-the-citizens-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ “\[M\]an is not permitted without censure to follow his own thoughts in the search of truth, when they lead him ever so little out… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/m-an-is-not-permitted-without-censure-to-follow-his-own-thoughts-in/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [“When the Christian Crusaders in the East came into collision with that invincible order of assassins, that order of free spirits par excellence, whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-the-christian-crusaders-in-the-east-came-into-collision-with/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [There is nothing wrong with intellectual differences flowing from freedom of thought as long as such differences remain confined to intellectual debates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pervez-musharraf/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-intellectual-differences-flowing-from/) [Pervez Musharraf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pervez-musharraf/) > [“FIRST AMENDMENT No one shall give a damn about your religion. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want about prayer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trae-crowder/first-amendment-no-one-shall-give-a-damn-about-your-religion-freedom/) [Trae Crowder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trae-crowder/) > [And what do Democrats stand for, if they are so ready to defame concerned citizens as the 'mob' - a word betraying a Marie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/and-what-do-democrats-stand-for-if-they-are-so-ready-to-defame/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-this-nation-is-to-be-wise-as-well-as-strong-if-we-are-to-achieve/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“However much we champion freedom of thought, we actually spend much of our time censoring input. We seek out publications that mirror or support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-trivers/however-much-we-champion-freedom-of-thought-we-actually-spend-much-of/) [Robert Trivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-trivers/) > [If mankind is to profit freely from the small and sporadic crop of the heroically gifted it produces, it will have to cultivate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/if-mankind-is-to-profit-freely-from-the-small-and-sporadic-crop-of/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [“Average intelligence loves blinders, which facilitate an even trot; but a brisker and livelier intelligence desires uncertainty, risk, a play of more deceptive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-gombrowicz/average-intelligence-loves-blinders-which-facilitate-an-even-trot-but/) [Witold Gombrowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witold-gombrowicz/) > [There should be complete freedom of thought for a progressive society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherlyn-chopra/there-should-be-complete-freedom-of-thought-for-a-progressive-society/) [Sherlyn Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherlyn-chopra/) [Browse all 236 Freedom of thought quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-of-thought/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I wish my life and decisions to depend on myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the instrument of my own, not of other men's, acts of will. I wish to be a subject, not an object; to be moved by reasons, by conscious purposes, which are my own, not by causes which affect me, as it were, from outside. I wish to be somebody, not nobody; a doer - deciding, not being decided for, self-directed and not acted upon by external nature or by other men as if I were a thing, or an animal, or a slave incapable of playing a human role, that is, of conceiving goals and policies of my own and realising them. This is at least part of what I mean when I say that I am rational, and that it is my reason that distinguishes me as a human being from the rest of the world. I wish, above all. to be conscious of myself as a thinking, willing, active being, bearing responsibility for my choices and able to explain them by reference to my own ideas and purposes. I feel free to the degree that I believe this to be true, and enslaved to the degree that I am made to realise that it is not.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isaiah Berlin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-on-myself-not-on-external/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Freedom of thought" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-on-myself-not-on-external/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/isaiah-berlin-10150_freedom-of-thought_i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-o_2508745.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/isaiah-berlin-10150_freedom-of-thought_i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-o_2508745.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/isaiah-berlin-10150_freedom-of-thought_i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-o_2508745.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wish my life and decisions to depend on myself, not on external forces of whatever kind. I wish to be the…” — Isaiah Berlin", "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": "Isaiah Berlin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I wish my life and decisions...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-on-myself-not-on-external/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/i-wish-my-life-and-decisions-to-depend-on-myself-not-on-external/#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 } } ] } ```