People only give value to a thing if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not they'll get it.
The only thing of which one can be guilty is of having given ground relative to one's desire.
The fact that my clothing has been visually available to other people I do not find upsetting. The body is another matter. It is mine; I have found it useful; but it is an avatar.
As he took her hand she saw him look her over from head to foot, a gesture she recognized and that made her feel at home, but gave her always a faint feeling of superiority to whoever made it. If her person was property she could exercise whatever advantage was inherent in its ownership.
When I'm in New York I look at the Empire State Building and feel as though it belongs to me ... or is it vice versa?
It is a general principle of human nature, that a man will be interested in whatever he possesses, in proportion to the firmness or precariousness of the tenure by which he holds it.
Ownership is the most intimate relationship that one can have to objects. Not that they come alive in him; it is he who lives in them.
I don't own an inch of land, but all I see is mine.
On an average day, we allow ourselves the fiction that we own a piece of our workplace. That's part of what it takes to get the job done. Deeper down, we know it's all on loan.
Resentment is just a way of letting someone else use your mind rent-free.
If you get people to feel that they are putting something, that they are creating it and so on, their love for the project would increase. The more something is yours, the more you're willing to invest in it.
