1. Each Person Is Responsible for His or Her Own Self
World Scripture
If I am not for myself, who is for me? And when I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
Mishnah, Avot 1.14 (Judaism)
O ye who believe! You have charge over your own souls.
Qur’an 5.105
By self do you censure yourself. By self do you examine yourself. Self-guarded and mindful, O bhikkhu, you will live happily. Self, indeed, is the protector of self. Self, indeed, is one’s refuge. Control, therefore, your own self as a merchant controls a noble steed.
Dhammapada 379-80 (Buddhism)
Whoever works righteousness benefits his own soul; whoever works evil, it is against his own soul: Your Lord is never unjust to His servants.
Qur’an 41.46
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Philippians 2.12
You must be lamps unto yourselves. Rely on yourselves, and do not rely on external help. Hold firm to the truth as a lamp and a refuge, and do not look for refuge to anything besides yourselves. A brother becomes his own lamp and refuge by continually looking on his body, feelings, perceptions, moods, and ideas in such a manner that he conquers the cravings and depressions of ordinary men and is always strenuous, self-possessed, and collected in mind. Whoever among my disciples does this, either now or when I am dead, if he is anxious to learn, will reach the summit.
Digha Nikaya 2.99-100 (Buddhism)
The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Deuteronomy 5.2-3
Oneself, indeed, is one’s savior, for what other savior could there be? With oneself well controlled one obtains a savior difficult to find.
Dhammapada 160 (Buddhism)
“Please, Man of Shakya,” said Dhotaka, “free me from confusion!” “It is not in my practice to free anyone from confusion,” said the Buddha. “When you have understood the most valuable teachings, then you yourself will cross the ocean.”
Sutta Nipata 1063-64 (Buddhism)
Not by traveling to the end of the world can one accomplish the end of ill. It is in this fathom-long carcass, friend, with its impressions and its ideas that, I declare, lies the world, and the cause of the world, and the cessation of the world, and the course of action that leads to the cessation of the world.
Samyutta Nikaya 1.62 (Buddhism)
[God to Adam]: “Adam, We give you no fixed place to live, no form that is peculiar to you, nor any function that is yours alone. According to your desires and judgment, you will have and possess whatever place to live, whatever form, and whatever functions you yourself choose. All other things have a limited and fixed nature… To you is granted the power of degrading yourself into the lower forms of life, the beasts, and to you is granted the power, contained in your intellect and judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, the divine.”
Pico della Mirandola6 (Humanism)
Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.
Erich Fromm7 (Humanism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
In the life of faith, you absolutely cannot remain a bystander. You think you can follow me, Reverend Moon, but you cannot lead your life of faith through me; you must find it in yourself. Regardless of what others do, you have to keep on the path of faith by your own will.
(153:136, November 15, 1963)
Even in the midst of the wilderness, you can build your dwelling. You must build it by yourself. No one can help you. Therefore, be self-sufficient, so you can help others. No matter how hard things may be, add something good to your daily life. Invest step by step. God also has been investing Himself and forgetting what He had invested: that is His tradition.
(248:133, August 1, 1993)
You know what to do. You know better than I what needs to be done. This course is yours, not mine.
(36:31, November 8, 1970)
Unless you develop yourself and arrive at maturity—the realm of God’s direct dominion—you will not understand what love is.
(137:100, December 24, 1985)
All things reach perfection after passing through the growing period (the realm of indirect dominion) by virtue of the autonomy and governance given by God’s Principle. Human beings, however, are created in such a way that their growth requires the fulfillment of their own portion of responsibility, in addition to the guidance provided by the Principle. They must exercise this responsibility in order to pass successfully through the growing period and reach perfection. We can deduce from God’s commandment to Adam and Eve (Gen. 2.17) that the first human ancestors were responsible to believe in the Word of God and not eat of the fruit. Whether or not they disobeyed God and fell depended not on God, but on them. Hence, whether or not human beings attain perfection does not depend only on God’s power of creation; it also requires the fulfillment of human responsibility. In His capacity as the Creator, God created human beings in such a manner that they can pass through the growing period (the realm of indirect dominion) and attain perfection only when they have completed their own portion of responsibility. Because God Himself created human beings in this way, He does not interfere with human responsibility. God endowed human beings with a portion of responsibility for the following reason. By fulfilling their given portion of responsibility—with which even God does not interfere—human beings are meant to inherit the creative nature of God and participate in God’s great work of creation. God intends human beings to earn ownership and become worthy to rule over the creation as creators in their own right (Gen. 1.28), just as God governs over them as their Creator. This is the principal difference between human beings and the rest of creation.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 5.2.2)
The path of life is not a way I go at another’s urging, nor because someone leads me; I realize I can only walk this path if I cope with it by myself. It is a principle of nature: I feed myself when I am hungry and drink for myself when I am thirsty.
(42:90, February 28, 1971)