It should be an act of affirmation by self and not negation by others.

它应该成为自我确认的一种行为而不是他人的否定。

youdao

Pay attention to your inner self and not to outer phenomena.

要专注于你内心的自我而不是外在的奇观。

youdao

As a way to sort of not lose your own self and identity in the world, to have your own truth and not be afraid to listen to it.

作为一种可以说是在世界上不迷失自我的方法，你要有你自己的真理而且不要害怕去听从它。

youdao

They say the Earps and Doc Holliday did not fire in self-defense, but used the law as an excuse for murder.

VOA: special.2010.02.15

and in fact in art and in religion, if I don't recognize my pain and confusion and suffering, it is not, in my words, self-vific.

事实上，在艺术和宗教中，如果我不面对我的痛苦，疑惑和苦难，那么艺术就不是，用我的话讲，有现实意义的。

普林斯顿公开课 - 人性课程节选

Hardly. Does it not require those qualities of self-control, discipline, and restraint necessary to achieve success here?

不！难道不需要那些特质吗,诸如自控，纪律与克制等，以求在此取得成功？

耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选

Through the decades, however, the masses have responded most intensely not to calculated appeals to their self-interest (though that didn't hurt) but to selfless, if not self-sacrificing, crusades for what is seen to be just and righteous.

CNN: CENTURY OF LIBERATION

While those founding truths about liberty and equality may have been self-evident, they are not self-perpetuating.

WHITEHOUSE: A White House Reception for Justice Kagan

It was a drag on our economy, and the kind of self-inflicted wound that we should not be self-inflicting here in Washington when we have so many challenges that we need to solve.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing