The assertive individual grants them to others while demanding them for himself. Some of the examples relate to assertiveness concepts explained earlier in the book. It is your right to do anything as long as you do not purposely hurt someone else and you are willing to accept the consequences. This axiom is one of the basic assumptions of numerous esoteric philosophies. It is considered by many to be the one commandment.
Critics call it selfish and hedonistic.
But it does not say that you shouldn't be compassionate. It says that you're a free individual who has the right to do anything that doesn't harm anyone else. If you want to leave home for a week without telling your husband where you're going or when you're coming back, he might worry about you and thus you have hurt him. But if you tell him you can afford a week's vacation, and your responsibilities are covered, you have a different situation. As another example, if after discharging your self-accepted household duties you decide to go sit in the park for the afternoon, you certainly shouldn't have to explain where you were or what you did.