What does this quote mean?

“The only possible society is oneself.”

The comic exaggeration makes self-company part of Wilde’s joke about society while still centering comfort with oneself.

Source note: An Ideal Husband, Act III, spoken by Lord Goring immediately before the lifelong-romance line.

“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.”

Emerson argues that mature character requires enough independence to resist conformity when conviction points elsewhere.

Source note: Self-Reliance, in the section urging trust in one’s own judgment.

“The soul selects her own society, then shuts the door.”

Dickinson’s compressed image emphasizes selective attention and the right to decide what receives intimate access.

Source note: “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”; capitalization is lightly normalized.

“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”

Emerson places inner integrity above conformity, arguing that a person should examine inherited standards rather than surrender judgment merely because they are socially approved.

Source note: Self-Reliance, in the passage beginning with Emerson’s argument for nonconformity.

“If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside.”

Dignity is separated from possessions and appearance, locating self-worth in conduct and inner standards when external status has been stripped away.

Source note: A Little Princess; Sara uses an imagined inner identity to preserve dignity during poverty and mistreatment.

“That her hand may be given with dignity, she must be able to stand alone.”

A relationship entered from the ability to stand independently can preserve dignity more fully than one made necessary by the inability to exist outside it.

Source note: Woman in the Nineteenth Century; Fuller connects the dignity of freely giving oneself in relationship with the prior ability to stand independently.