Marcus Aurelius on honor

In the life of a man, his time is but a moment…his sense, a dim rushlight. All that is body is as coursing waters…all that is of the soul, as dreams, and vapors.

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

Mark Twain1835–1910

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.

Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882The Conduct of Life (1860), Worship

If I lose mine honour, I lose myself.

William Shakespeare1564–1616Antony and Cleopatra (1600s), Act III, scene 4, line 22.In context