“The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.”

Source: Jane Eyre (1847), Ch. 34

"Spiritualism"
All Things Considered (1908)
Context: It is not funny that anything else should fall down; only that a man should fall down. No one sees anything funny in a tree falling down. No one sees a delicate absurdity in a stone falling down. No man stops in the road and roars with laughter at the sight of the snow coming down. The fall of thunderbolts is treated with some gravity. The fall of roofs and high buildings is taken seriously. It is only when a man tumbles down that we laugh. Why do we laugh? Because it is a grave religious matter: it is the Fall of Man. Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.

Source: Factotum (1975), Ch. 17
Context: I got into bed, opened the bottle, worked the pillow into a hard knot behind my back, took a deep breath, and sat in the dark looking out of the window. It was the first time I had been alone for five days. I was a man who thrived on solitude; without it I was like another man without food or water. Each day without solitude weakened me. I took no pride in my solitude; but I was dependent on it. The darkness of the room was like sunlight to me. I took a drink of wine.

Pt. 3: At Sea, Section 6
Islands in the Stream (1970)

The Tree of Wisdom http://books.google.com/books?id=d3TX5peeoSsC&pg=PP17&dq=%22If+you+desire+ease+forsake+learning+If+you+desire+learning+forsake+ease+How+can+the+man+at+his+ease+acquire+knowledge+And+how+can+the+earnest+student+enjoy+ease%22

Jugez-moi, messieurs les jurés, mais si vous m'avez compris, en me jugeant jugez tous les malheureux dont la misère, alliée à la fierté naturelle, a fait des criminels, et dont la richesse, dont l'aisance même aurait fait des honnêtes gens!
Trial statement

The Man in the High Castle (1962)