Nicholas Bartlett

“I am therefore a ready believer in relics, legends, and local anecdotes of goblins and great men, and would advise all travellers who travel for their gratification to be the same. What is it to us whether these stories be true or false, so long as we can persuade ourselves into the belief of them and enjoy all the charm of the reality?”
― Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories

“He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

“You can define a free person precisely as someone whose fate is not centrally or directly dependent on peer assessment.”
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

“Forgive me, Majesty. I am a vulgar man! But I assure you, my music is not.”
― Mozart