The artist who is after success lets himself be influenced by the public. Generally such an artist contributes nothing new, for the public acclaims only what it already knows, what it recognizes. Reflections on Literature and Morality

You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

The lot assigned to every man is suited to him, and suits him to itself. Book III

A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest form of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal in satisfying his vices. And it all comes from lying — to others and to yourself. The Karamazov Brothers