Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean — roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
Man marks the earth with ruin — his control
Stops with the shore.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 4, st. 179 (1818)

Since the invention of the mirror, everyone knows what he or she looks like and does not find it helpful or enjoyable to have oddities or deficiencies — according to someone else’s standards and tastes — pointed out. And every adult assumes the right of making his or her own decisions about eating, drinking, mating and reproducing, and finds being monitored and instructed — again according to someone else’s preferences — distasteful.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1986-01-19)