"A writer's self-consciousness, for which he is much scorned, is really a mode of interestedness, that inevitably turns outward."

Next Quote

The wise man does nothing but what can be done openly and without falseness, nor does he do anything whereby he may involve himself in any wrong-doing, even where he may escape notice. For he is guilty in his own eyes before being so in the eyes of others; and the publicity of his crime does not bring him more shame than his own consciousness of it.

— Ambrose