This is that conquest of the world and of ourselves, which has been always considered as the perfection of human nature; and this is only to be obtained by fervent prayer, steady resolution, and frequent retirements from folly and vanity, from the cares of avarice, and the joys of intemperance, from the lulling sounds of deceitful flatterers, and the tempting sight of prosperous wickedness.
—Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, pulled from James Schall, The Universe We Think In,
