See how many are better off than you are, but consider how many are worse.

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk.

Whatever one of us blames in another, each one will find in his own heart.

True praise comes often even to the lowly; false praise only to the strong.

Whatever fortune has raised to a height, she has raised only to cast it down.

The way is long if one follows precepts, but short... if one follows patterns.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

Call it Nature, Fate, Fortune; all these are names of the one and selfsame God.

There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.

If thou art a man, admire those who attempt great things, even though they fail.

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.

No man enjoys the true taste of life, but he who is ready and willing to quit it.

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.

There is a noble manner of being poor, and who does not know it will never be rich.

It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.

That which is given with pride and ostentation is rather an ambition than a bounty.

We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods.

True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.

Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.

To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.

Why do I not seek some real good; one which I could feel, not one which I could display?

A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.

For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.

What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more.

Success is not greedy, as people think, but insignificant. That is why it satisfies nobody.

Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.

Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.

Believe me, that was a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of builders.

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.

No evil propensity of the human heart is so powerful that it may not be subdued by discipline.

May be is very well, but Must is the master. It is my duty to show justice without recompense.

What nature requires is obtainable, and within easy reach. It is for the superfluous we sweat.

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party; there is no battle unless there be two.

It makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin.

The display of grief makes more demands than grief itself. How few men are sad in their own company.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.

There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage.

It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and to prefer things in measure to things in excess.

There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.

There is no person so severely punished, as those who subject themselves to the whip of their own remorse.

Consider, when you are enraged at any one, what you would probably think if he should die during the dispute.

The good things of prosperity are to be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man... It is more powerful than external circumstances.

Nothing is so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness is it to be expecting evil before it comes.

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