First Light
The man who has no refuge in himself, who lives, so to speak, in his front rooms, in the outer whirlwind of things and opinions, is not properly speaking a personality at all; he is not distinct, free, original, a cause -- in a word, SOMEONE. He is one of the crowd, a taxpayer, an elector, an anonymity, but not a man. On the other hand, he who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature, and a continuous good progress towards inner contentment and spiritual submission, is less likely than anyone to miss and waste that life.
-- Henri Frédéric Amiel
First Light
The man who has no refuge in himself, who lives, so to speak, in his front rooms, in the outer whirlwind of things and opinions, is not properly speaking a personality at all; he is not distinct, free, original, a cause -- in a word, SOMEONE. He is one of the crowd, a taxpayer, an elector, an anonymity, but not a man. On the other hand, he who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature, and a continuous good progress towards inner contentment and spiritual submission, is less likely than anyone to miss and waste that life.
-- Henri Frédéric Amiel