A man needs a pole star—a fixed reference point to orient his life. When he has that everything falls into place. It can be anything really: Christianity, Buddhism, Stoicism, or create your own. Careful: when a man finds his reference point you may not like it. Steadfast men aren’t controlled by tears, anger, or approval.
The key to every man is his thought. Sturdy and defying though he look, he has a helm which he obeys, which is the idea after which all his facts are classified. He can only be reformed by showing him a new idea which commands his own.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CirclesEach man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something moulded.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars