OK, let's face it -- being an independent contractor isn't easy. Between pursuing leads, managing finances and balancing work and personal life, you've got your work cut out for you. But when you're feeling a little down, and wondering if you made the right choice quitting that cushy office job, take heart! You've made a decision that will pay off in the long run. But don't just take our word for it. Here are some quotes that will inspire you to keep working for yourself (and provide some useful advice, as well):

"In the quest to get their lives back, most employees would rather set their own hours and avoid glutted highways."
-- Brad Stone, in Newsweek

"Children or other folks out there listening: Don't try this at home."
-- James Oxendine, urban-development consultant, doling out advice on the transition to self employment, in Newsweek

"[Corporations] are all chasing creativity and innovation. But then they've taken away all of employees' choices. Corporations haven't gotten it."
-- Cynthia C. Froggatt, principal of Froggatt Consulting, on Wired News

"What we have today is not job security but skills security. Being an individual entrepreneur, you are a lot more secure."
-- Terri Lonier, founder, Working Solo, in the London Independent

"Not only is work less of a grind, it is pleasingly integrated into everyday life."
-- John Carlin, journalist, in the London Independent

"In the 21st century, the lines between consumers' work lives, their financial lives and their home lives will become not just blurry, but almost invisible."
-- Annette Miller, American Demographics

"Like the tortoise who carries his house on his back, workers in the new millennium will carry parts of their digital homes or offices wherever they go."
-- Annette Miller, American Demographics

"It's not unlikely that we'll see a work future that mimics Hollywood: independent contractors coming together in teams to work on a specific project."
-- Brock Hinzmann, American Demographics

"When you're promoting brand You, everything you do -- and everything you choose not to do -- communicates the value and character of the brand."
-- Tom Peters, in Fast Company

"The key to any personal branding campaign is 'word-of-mouth marketing.'"
-- Tom Peters, in Fast Company

"Worker classification has an impact on all small businesses. At some point, they all must hire an independent contractor."
-- Jere W. Glover, chief counsel for the US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy

"The economics of free agency relate to a tremendous San Andreas Fault between employee and employer. Once you're a free agent, you've moved to the other side of that divide."
-- Stan Davis, economist, in Fast Company

"People take a risk when they strike out on their own, and they're no longer covered by unemployment insurance or protected by labor laws."
-- Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director of Working Today

"In Free Agent Nation, work is supposed to be fun."
-- Dan H. Pink, author, Free Agent Nation, in Fast Company

"People rise through an organization until they stop having fun. Then they leave to become free agents."
-- Dan H. Pink, author, Free Agent Nation, in Fast Company

"Most of the talk continues to be about saving 'jobs' or rewarding 'entrepreneurs.' Lots of us -- and pretty soon most of us -- live somewhere between those poles."
-- Dan H. Pink, publisher, Free Agent Nation, in Fast Company

"You need to figure out what skills will be relevant in the future and to map out projects to develop those skills."
-- John Kotter, author of The New Rules: Eight Business Breakthroughs to Career Success in the 21st Century (Free Press, 1997), in Fast Company

"The workplace of the future is going to be organized according to jobs that need doing. And that means a project-oriented workplace."
-- Susan Campbell, author of From Chaos to Confidence: Survival Strategies for the New Workplace (Simon & Schuster, 1995), in Fast Company