stand on one's own feet

Idioms

Act or behave independently, as in You've got to learn to stand on your own feet and not always listen to your peers. [Mid-1500s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One had to stand on one's own feet.

From Project Gutenberg

"To stand on one's own feet" Heeren finds the keynote to the discourses of Demosthenes, as of Chatham.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus, at certain epochs, children part from parents, servants from masters, /protégés/ from their patrons; and, whether it succeed or not, such an attempt to stand on one's own feet, to make one's self independent, to live for one's self, is always in accordance with the will of nature.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023