Religion . . . shall mean for us the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude.

The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.

The true profession of a man is to find his way to himself.

The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of everything else to which he is justly entitled.

We can secure other people’s approval, if we do right and try hard; but our own is worth a hundred of it, and no way has been found out of securing that.

The individual is not accountable to society for his actions, insofar as these concern the interests of no person but himself.

I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

He who has so little knowledge of human natures as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you.

If you can't pay for a thing, don't buy it. If you can't get paid for it, don't sell it. Do this, and you will have calm and drowsy nights, with all of the good business you have now and none of the bad.

The clearest way in the Universe is through a forest wilderness.

The knowledge and skills you have achieved are meant to be forgotten so you can float comfortably in emptiness, without obstruction.

One can acquire everything in solitude—except character.

For one wild, glad moment we snapped the chain that binds us to earth, and joining hands with the winds we felt ourselves divine.

I love people. I love my family, my children… but inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that’s where you renew your springs that never dry up.

Solitude is for me a fount of healing which makes my life worth living.

You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise.