“Now, I ain't alone, as you may think I am. There's a young man hid with me, in comparison with which young man I am a angel. That young man hears the words I speak. That young man has a secret way pecooliar to himself of getting at a boy, and at his heart, and at his liver. It is in wain for a boy to attempt to hide himself from that young man. A boy may lock his door, may be warm in bed, may tuck himself up, may draw the clothes over his head, may think himself comfortable and safe, but that young man will softly creep and creep his way to him and tear him open.”

The Analects, The Doctrine of the Mean
Context: The superior man examines his heart, that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause for dissatisfaction with himself. That wherein the superior man cannot be equaled is simply this — his work which other men cannot see.

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 376.

The Tragic Sense of Life (1913), XI : The Practical Problem

Source: Surprised by Joy (1955), p. 191

Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 513
Human, All Too Human (1878), Helen Zimmern translation

Speech to Conservative Party Conference (14 October 1988) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107352
Third term as Prime Minister
Variant: A man may climb Everest for himself, but at the summit he plants his country's flag.

The Luck of the Bodkins (1935)

Attorney-General v. Kerr (1840), 2 Beav. 428.
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This Business of Living (1935-1950)