“A modern man may disapprove of some of his sweeping reforms, and approve others; but finds it difficult not to admire even where he does not approve.”

“Approval is overrated… Approval and disapproval alike satisfy those who deliver it more than those who receive it. I don't care for approval, and I don't mind doing without.”

Gregory Maguire (1954) Novelist

“Why do you want the approval of others who don't even approve of themselves?”

Guy Finley (1949) American self-help writer, philosopher, and spiritual teacher, and former professional songwriter and musician

“Approved attributes and their relation to face make every man his own jailer; this is a fundamental social constraint even though each man may like his cell.”

Erving Goffman (1922–1982) Sociologist, writer, academic

“A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep.”

Vernon Howard (1918–1992) American writer

“I cannot help thinking that there is something to admire in everyone, even if you do not approve of them.”

E.M. Forster (1879–1970) English novelist

“I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life.”

Oscar Wilde book The Picture of Dorian Gray

“I try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove.”

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

“I neither approve nor disapprove. I merely try to understand. Sexual freedom is as natural to newly tribalized youth as drugs.”

Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar-- a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a …