I shall be a benefactor if I conquer some realms from the night, if I report to the gazettes anything transpiring about us at that season worthy of their attention,—if I can show men that there is some beauty awake while they are asleep,—if I add to the domains of poetry.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
Heaven lies about us in our infancy ... and the world begins lying about us pretty soon afterward.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
The judgments our enemies make about us come nearer to the truth than those we make about ourselves.
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)