No man has a right perception of any truth, who has not been reacted on by it, so as to be ready to be its martyr.

In a world of infinite choice people are struggling to figure out what to do.

What a man does, that he has. What has he to do with hope or fear? In himself is his might. Let him regard no good as solid but that which is in his nature, and which must grow out of him as long as he exists. The goods of fortune may come and go like summer leaves; let him scatter them on every wind as the momentary signs of his infinite productiveness.

Insist on yourself. Never imitate.

Truth has not single victories; all things are its organs,--not only dust and stones, but errors and lies.

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.

Society does not love its unmaskers.