When I dance, I dance; when I sleep, I sleep. Nay, and when I walk alone in a beautiful Orchard, if my Thoughts are some part of the Time taken up with strange Occurrences, I some part of the Time call them back again to my Walk, or to the Orchard, to the Sweetness of the Solitude, and to my self. – Michel de Montaigne, “Of Experience,” translated from French by Charles Cotton

The finest thing in the world is knowing how to belong to oneself. – Michel de Montaigne, Of Solitude

When I look for my existence I do not look for it in myself. – Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

[E]very donkey who ever peered at himself in the water of the stream he was crossing has enjoyed the sight and been sure he was a handsome horse. – Gustave Flaubert, letter to Louise Colet, 1846 October 7th, translated by Franci