Date: 1883-1885

"Behind your thoughts and feelings, my brother, stands a mighty commander, and unknown sage--he is called Self. He lives in your body, he is your body."

— Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900)

Date: 1890

"No rack can torture me, / My  soul's at liberty."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"The  soul  unto itself / Is an imperial friend,— / Or the most agonizing spy / An enemy could send."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

Secure against its own, / No treason it can fear; / Itself its sovereign, of itself / The soul should stand in awe."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1900

"One of these two must ever be, viz., that a man has his fancies in right discipline, turning, leading, and commanding them; or they him. Either they must deal with him, take him up short (as they say), teach him manners, and make him know to whom he belongs; or, this will be his part to teach th...

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

Date: 1900

"Jealous for thy authority in thy mansion-house and outward family, but not in the least for thy authority within, in thy chiefest mansion, thy principal economy? Are the servants here to talk high and in what tone they please? Must theirs be the last word, their dictates the rules of action? O s...

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

Date: 1905

"Those hidden bonds are twined about the heart, / So that the captive wanders unconfined, / And has no sovereign but o'er his mind!"

— Betham, Matilda (1776-1852)

Date: Date Unknown

"The command of one's self is the greatest empire a man can aspire unto, and consequently, to be subject to our own passions is the most grievous slavery."

— Milton, John (1608-1674)

Date: Date Unknown

To "be subject to our own passions is the most grievous slavery"

— Milton, John (1608-1674)

Date: 1911

"You are no longer the slave of those successive atoms into which sleep divides you."

— Lewis, Edwin Herbert (1866-1938)