Every time I surrender, even necessarily, to authority which disregardingly or contemptuously violates me, so I violate myself. Every time I break an unnecessary law, doing so for my own joy and to the detriment of no other human being, so I regain myself, and become strong in the parts of me that the security man can never see.
– William T. Vollmann, Riding Toward Everywhere
This quote was enough to make me flag the book in my Amazon “wish list” for purchase when the price comes down to a more reasonable level.