“The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.”

“Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. what a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

“A man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.”

Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) American businessman and philanthropist

“[A] brilliant man is his own best company, unless he can find other company of the same sort.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie book Man a Machine

“Butch didn't live in his own place. He didn't spend his own money. He had no job, no future. He was a well-kept pet, not a man.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Revealed

“Later, when we were forced to accept the fact that finding gold was really the primary object of a gold-mining company, we still remained there”

Bret Harte (1836–1902) American author and poet

“The man that owned the company that I worked for called me into the office and said how can you be on our payroll and have your own New York Times ad! This has to stop! And I said but it can't I have orders to ship. And he said well you're fired. And that's how I started my business.”

Anna Sui (1964) American fashion designer

“I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

“I think that Man in creating God somewhat overestimated his abilities.”

Johannes Grenzfurthner (1975) Austrian artist, writer, curator, and theatre and film director

“To my mind, a well-developed sense of humor is the surest indication of a person's humanity, no matter how black and bitter that humor may be.”

Thomas Ligotti (1953) American horror author