Echoes

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation.

It is natural for a man's character and actions to be influenced by his friends and associates and for him to follow the local norms of behavior. Therefore, he should associate with the righteous and be constantly in the company of the wise, so as to learn from their deeds. Conversely, he should keep away from the wicked who walk in darkness, so as not to learn from their deeds.

They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.

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.

Withdraw into yourself as much as you can. Associate with those who will make a better man of you. Welcome those whom you yourself can improve.

I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.

You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate.

Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

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.

First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.

The worst lesson that can be taught a man is to rely upon others and to whine over his sufferings.

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

Though the whole world should praise him, he would not be stimulated to greater endeavour, and though the whole world should condemn him, he would not be depressed. So fixed was he in the difference between the internal judgement of himself and the external judgement of others.

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.

To consort with the crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make some vice attractive to us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us unconsciously therewith.

I exist as I am, that is enough.

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

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

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will... The really diligent student... is as solitary as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping, and not feel lonesome.

Respect yourself and others will respect you.

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

The destiny of man is in his own soul.

All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

Ten thousand do not turn the scale against a single man of worth.

Insist on yourself; never imitate.