No man ought to expect much from others, or, in general, from the external world. What one human being can be to another is not a very great deal: in the end everyone stands alone, and the important thing is who it is that stands alone.
Themes
Self-Reliance
Solitude, independence, and walking one's own road.
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.
I live in my own place, have never copied nobody even half, and at any master who lacks the grace to laugh at himself — I laugh.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
I love to be alone. I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.
The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.
All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
A strong nature feels itself brought into the world for its own development and not for the approbation of the public.