"Live with men as if God saw you; converse with God as if men heard you."
"Those who have the light in themselves will not revolve like satellites."
"Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them."
"If sensuality were happiness, beasts were happier than men; but human felicity is lodged in the soul, not in the flesh."
"Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgment."
"A thing is never too often repeated which is never sufficiently learned."
"While we are postponing, life speeds by."
"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult."
"He who has injured thee was stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself."
"Everything that exceeds the bounds of moderation, has an unstable foundation."
"The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company."
"It is not the man who has too little who is poor, but the one who craves more."
"Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it."
"It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."
"Some there are that torment themselves afresh with the memory of what is past; others, again, afflict themselves with the apprehension of evils to come; and very ridiculously both - for the one does not now concern us, and the other not yet. One should count each day a separate life."
"Why 'liberal studies' are so called is obvious: it is because they are the ones considered worthy of free men. But there is really only one liberal study that deserves the name - because it makes a person free - and that is the pursuit of wisdom."
"Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other; yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely; for science is but one."
"Solitude and company may be allowed to take their turns: the one creates in us the love of mankind, the other that of ourselves; solitude relieves us when we are sick of company, and conversation when we are weary of being alone, so that the one cures the other. There is no man so miserable as he that is at a loss how to use his time."
"Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands."
"Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today."
"He who injured you was either stronger or weaker. If he was weaker, spare him; if he was stronger, spare yourself."
"It goes far toward making a man faithful to let him understand that you think him so; and he that does but suspect I will deceive him, gives me a sort of right to do it."
"Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may then be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment."
"Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears. The effect of precepts is, therefore, slow and tedious, while that of examples is summary and effectual."
"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult."