“Act well and properly, less to please others, more to keep your own self-respect.”
Adolph Freiherr Knigge book Über den Umgang mit Menschen
Handle gut und anständig, weniger anderen zu gefallen, eher um deine eigene Achtung nicht zu verscherzen.
Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)
Enya (1961) Irish singer, songwriter, and musician
On the music press
KSCA interview (1996)
Paulo Coelho book Aleph
Source: Aleph (2011)
Context: What we aim to do is calm the spirit and get in touch with the source from which everything comes, removing any trace of malice or egotism. If you spend too much time trying to find out what is good or bad about someone else, you’ll forget your own soul and end up exhausted and defeated by the energy you have wasted in judging others.
Megan McCafferty (1973) American novelist
Source: Sloppy Firsts
Hanya Yanagihara (1974) American novelist and travel writer
On debating the reactions of her readership in “Hanya Yanagihara: ‘I wanted everything turned up a little too high’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/26/hanya-yanagihara-i-wanted-everything-turned-up-a-little-too-high-interview-a-little-life in The Guardian (2015 Jul 26)
“I don't think you can do anything for anyone without giving up something of your own.”
The Natural (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003) p. 149 http://books.google.com/books?id=wCWhegoGUxwC&q=%22I+don't+think+you+can+do+anything+for+anyone+without+giving+up+something+of+your+own%22&pg=PA149#v=onepage. (originally published 1952)
