The mind is its own place – Milton
by John Milton
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater?
Here at least We shall be free: th’Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell;
Better to reign in hell than serve in heav’n.–Paradise Lost, Book One, lines 254-263
Comes from Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, spoken by Satan as he declares his defiant spirit after being cast into Hell, emphasizing that his internal state, not external conditions, dictates his reality