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

Anyone can stop a man's life, but no one his death; a thousand doors open on to it.

Do the best you can . . . enjoy the present . . . rest satisfied with what you have.

However wretched a fellow-mortal may be, he is still a member of our common species.

A man who suffers or stresses before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary

To want simply what is enough nowadays suggests to people primitiveness and squalor.

Human society is like an arch, kept from falling by the mutual pressure of its parts

He grieves more than is necessary who grieves before any cause for sorrow has arisen.

The artist finds a greater pleasure in painting than in having completed the picture.

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

No one can long hide behind a mask; the pretense soon lapses into the true character.

It is by the benefit of letters that absent friends are in a manner brought together.

No man finds it difficult to return to nature except the man who has deserted nature.

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

Light cares speak, great ones are speechless. -Curae leves loquuntur ingentes stupent

Demand not that I am the equal of the greatest, only that I am better than the wicked.

People pay the doctor for his trouble; for his kindness they still remain in his debt.

Certain laws have not been written, but they are more fixed than all the written laws.

One who's our friend is fond of us; one who's fond of us isn't necessarily our friend.

To preserve the life of citizens, is the greatest virtue in the father of his country.

Those whom fortune has never favored are more joyful than those whom she has deserted.

He is greedy of life who is not willing to die when the world is perishing around him.

It does not matter how many books you have, but how good the books are which you have.

What progress have I made? I am beginning to be my own friend. That is progress indeed

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.

On him does death lie heavily, who, but too well known to all, dies to himself unknown.

A man who has taken your time recognises no debt; yet it is the one he can never repay.

The first proof of a well-ordered mind is to be able to pause and linger within itself.

There's one blessing only, the source and cornerstone of beatitude: confidence in self.

I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.

If we desire to judge justly, we must persuade ourselves that none of us is without sin.

Let him that hath done the good office conceal it; let him that received it disclose it.

To strive with an equal is dangerous; with a superior, mad; with an inferior, degrading.

Many shed tears merely for show, and have dry eyes when no one's around to observe them.

What is more insane than to vent on senseless things the anger that is felt towards men?

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

Most people fancy themselves innocent of those crimes of which they cannot be convicted.

That day which you fear as being the end of all things is the birthday of your eternity.

A hungry people listens not to reason, not cares for justice, nor is bent by any prayers.

The man who while he gives thinks of what he will get in return, deserves to be deceived.

You cannot, I repeat, successfully acquire it and preserve your modesty at the same time.

To give and to lose is nothing; but to lose and to give still is the part of a great mind.

The swiftness of time is infinite, as is still more evident when we look back on the past.

The highest duty and the highest proof of wisdom - that deed and word should be in accord.

What does reason demand of a man? A very easy thing-to live in accord with his own nature.

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

Let the man, who would be grateful, think of repaying a kindness, even while receiving it.

We are all sinful. Therefore whatever we blame in another we shall find in our own bosoms.

The velocity with which time flies is infinite, as is most apparent to those who look back.

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