Wemustbreaktheknotofourobligations，howstrongsoever，andhereafterlovethisorthat，butespousenothingbutourselves:thatistosay，lettheremainderbeourown，butnotsojoinedandsocloseasnottobeforcedawaywithoutflayingusortearingoutpartofourwhole。Thegreatestthingintheworldisforamantoknowthatheishisown。’Tistimetoweanourselvesfromsocietywhenwecannolongeraddanythingtoit;hewhoisnotinaconditiontolendmustforbidhimselftoborrow。Ourforcesbegintofailus;letuscalltheminandconcentratetheminandforourselves。Hethatcancastoffwithinhimselfandresolvetheofficesoffriendshipandcompany，lethimdoit。
Inthisdecayofnaturewhichrendershimuseless，burdensome，andimportunatetoothers，lethimtakecarenottobeuseless，burdensome，andimportunatetohimself。Lethimsootheandcaresshimself，andaboveallthingsbesuretogovernhimselfwithreverencetohisreasonandconsciencetothatdegreeastobeashamedtomakeafalsestepintheirpresence:
\"Rarumestenim，utsatissequisquevereatur。\"
[\"For’tisrarelyseenthatmenhaverespectandreverenceenoughforthemselves。\"——Quintilian，x。7。]
Socratessaysthatboysaretocausethemselvestobeinstructed，mentoexercisethemselvesinwell—doing，andoldmentoretirefromallcivilandmilitaryemployments，livingattheirowndiscretion，withouttheobligationtoanyoffice。Therearesomecomplexionsmoreproperforthesepreceptsofretirementthanothers。Suchasareofasoftanddullapprehension，andofatenderwillandaffection，notreadilytobesubduedoremployed，whereofIamone，bothbynaturalconditionandbyreflection，willsoonerinclinetothisadvicethanactiveandbusysouls，whichembrace:all，engageinall，arehotuponeverything，whichoffer，present，andgivethemselvesuptoeveryoccasion。Wearetousetheseaccidentalandextraneouscommodities，sofarastheyarepleasanttous，butbynomeanstolayourprincipalfoundationthere;’tisnotrueone;neithernaturenorreasonallowsitsotobe。Whythereforeshouldwe，contrarytotheirlaws，enslaveourowncontentmenttothepowerofanother？Toanticipatealsotheaccidentsoffortune，todepriveourselvesoftheconvenienceswehaveinourownpower，asseveralhavedoneupontheaccountofdevotion，andsomephilosophersbyreasoning;tobeone’sownservant，toliehard，toputoutourowneyes，tothrowourwealthintotheriver，togoinsearchofgrief;these，bythemiseryofthislife，aimingatblissinanother;thosebylayingthemselveslowtoavoidthedangeroffalling:allsuchareactsofanexcessivevirtue。Thestoutestandmostresolutenaturesrendereventheirseclusiongloriousandexemplary: