self-assertion

English

Etymology

self- +‎ assertion

Noun

self-assertion (uncountable)

  1. The aggressive advancement of one's own opinions or wishes.
    • 1869, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield:
      If his sweet-tempered wife could have got up any self-assertion against anyone, I am satisfied it could only have been because she was the Beauty’s sister.
    • 1893, Thomas Huxley, Evolution and Ethics:
      In place of ruthless self-assertion it demands self-restraint; in place of thrusting aside, or treading down, all competitors, it requires that the individual shall not merely respect, but shall help his fellows; its influence is directed, not so much to the survival of the fittest, as to the fitting of as many as possible to survive.
    • 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine‎:
      "Self-assertion is foreign to my nature, but I have to hold my ground against opposition."

Translations
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