No one can defeat one except oneself

[thehammer]

I know 'you' can be used insted of 'one' and 'a person' to mean people in general. But can they be used in the following sentences?

1- No one can defeat one except oneself.
2- No one can defeat you except yourself.
3- No one can defeat a person except himself.

 

[emsr2d2]

I know 'you' can be used instead of 'one' and 'a person' to mean people in general no full stop here but can they be used in the following sentences?

1- No one can defeat one except oneself.
2- No one can defeat you except yourself.
3- No one can defeat a person except himself.

Note my corrections above. Again, don't try to start sentences with "and" or "but". Use them as conjunctions.

1 is grammatically correct but sounds extremely old-fashioned. We really don't use "one" much these days.
2 is OK.
I wouldn't use 3 because using "a person" means you'd have to end with the awkward "himself/herself" to make it clear you're not talking only about men. The alternative is the generally avoided "themselves".

 

[Rover_KE]

You could use 'themself'.

The standard reflexive form corresponding to they and them is themselves, as in they can do it themselves. The singular form themself, first recorded in the 14th century, has re-emerged in recent years corresponding to the singular gender-neutral use of they, as in this is the first step in helping someone to help themself.

themself | Definition of themself in English by Oxford Dictionaries

 

[emsr2d2]

You could use 'themself'.

I consider that to be even more generally avoided than "themselves"! In fact, my spellchecker has red-squiggly-underlined the word in the quote box.

 

[jutfrank]

You could use 'themself'.

I consider that to be even more generally avoided than "themselves"! In fact, my spellchecker has red-squiggly-underlined the word in the quote box.

It's been a few years now since we've touched on this so it's nice to be back.

I'm a long-time supporter of the innovative 'themself'.

 

[probus]

I see the appeal of "themself" but it's certainly an innovation. I've never seen or heard it used.

 

[Rover_KE]

I wouldn't call it an innovation. [link] [link]