The Note-Books of Samuel Butler

There is an eternal antagonism of interest between the individual and the world at large.  The individual will not so much care how much he may suffer in this world provided he can live in men’s good thoughts long after he has left it.  The world at large does not so much care how much suffering the individual may either endure or cause in this life, provided he will take himself clean away out of men’s thoughts, whether for good or ill, when he has left it.