Echoes

Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.

He needs no library, for he has not done thinking; no church, for he is himself a prophet; no statute book, for he hath the Lawgiver; no money, for he is value itself; no road, for he is at home where he is.

The world is nothing, the man is all; in yourself is the law of all nature, and you know not yet how a globule of sap ascends; in yourself slumbers the whole of Reason; it is for you to know all, it is for you to dare all.

I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed and had done the very best you could.

It would be better for me... that multitudes of men should disagree with me rather than that I, being one, should be out of harmony with myself.

You should rather please yourself than the people; take thought for the quality, not the number, of judgements made about you.

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.

Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss whatever insults your own soul.

Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.

The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness.

Be a lamp unto yourself, be a refuge to yourself. Take yourself to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the Truth as a refuge.

Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

My Soul gave me good counsel, teaching me never to delight in praise or to be distressed by reproach. Before my Soul taught me, I doubted the value of my accomplishments until the passing days sent someone who would extol or disparage them. But now I know that trees blossom in the spring and give their fruits in the summer without any desire for accolades. And they scatter their leaves abroad in the fall and denude themselves in the winter without fear of reproof.

You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.

It would be better for me that the whole world should disagree with me than that I, being one, should be out of harmony with myself.

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.

If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.

It is himself he is approaching, no other; and he should begin by turning resolutely away from all devices that are popularly believed to indicate style — all mannerisms, tricks, adornments.

I am not concerned that I have no place; I am concerned how I may fit myself for one. I am not concerned that I am not known; I seek to be worthy to be known.

Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you. You must travel it for yourself.

What does your conscience say? — You should become who you are.

Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge. Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.

I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.