“Many of the men who, for instance, called me their horse, did not ride on me, but entirely different men rode on me. They themselves did not feed me, but entirely different people fed me. Again, it was not those who called me their horse who treated me kindly, but the coachman, the veterinary, and, as a general thing, outside men.

“Afterwards, as I widened the sphere of my experiences, I became convinced that the concept my , as applied not only to us horses, but to other things, has no other foundation than a low and animal, a human instinct, which they call the sentiment or right of property. Man says, my house , and never lives in it, but is only cumbered with the building and maintenance of it. The merchant says, my shop ⁠—my clothing-shop, for example⁠—and he does not even wear clothes made of the best cloth in the shop.