Arnold Bennett
“Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission.”
The Human Machine, 1908
Documented source
Source
Arnold Bennett, The Human Machine (1908)
Misattributed to
Ralph Waldo Emerson — no Emerson source exists
Correct attribution
Arnold Bennett — this is his line, from his book
Every quote here is traced to a documented source. How we verify →
Attribution note: This line circulates under Emerson’s name. It is not Emerson’s. The author is Arnold Bennett — The Human Machine (1908).
About this line
The line the internet keeps handing to Emerson is Bennett’s, from The Human Machine, the companion to his better-known 24 Hours a Day. His claim: nothing harmful gets into your head without your say-so — which makes the gate your responsibility.
We print it with the attribution corrected. The line is too good to keep giving to the wrong person.
Why we carry this line
Our reminder to guard the gate. And to give credit where it actually belongs.
Objects carrying this line
Related Lines
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Bennett · How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, 1908
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“I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.”
Muriel Strode · Wind-Wafted Wild Flowers, 1903
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