If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.
In every tyrant’s heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend.
Marriage, if one will face the truth, is an evil, but a necessary evil.
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself, an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.
Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always.
Equity bids us be merciful to the weakness of human nature; to think less about the laws than about the man who framed them, and less about what he said than about what he meant; not to consider the actions of the accused so much as his intentions; nor this or that detail so much as the whole story; to ask not what a man is now but what he has always or usually been.
First do no harm. (Primum non nocerum)
Yes the truth is that men’s ambition and their desire to make money are among the most frequent causes of deliberate acts of injustice.
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.
I see the state of all of us who live, nothing more than phantoms or a weightless shadow.
It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.
It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.
Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Therefore, give yourself fully to your endeavours. Decide to construct your character through excellent actions and determine to pay the price of a worthy goal. The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths. Remain steadfast…and one day you will build something that endures: something worthy of your potential.
The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
Verily, great grace may go with a little gift; and precious are all things that come from a friend.
Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!
If you allow men to use you for your own purposes, they will use you for theirs.
To run away from trouble is a form of cowardice and, while it is true that the suicide braves death, he does it not for some noble object but to escape some ill.
All the good are friends of one another.
If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated.
Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes himself get good things by jealousy, while the other does not allow his neighbour to have them through envy.
The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.
They who love in excess also hate in excess.
Bring a wife home to your house when you are of the right age, not far short of 30 years, nor much above; this is the right time for marriage.
But whoever gives birth to useless children, what would you say of him except that he has bred sorrows for himself, and furnishes laughter for his enemies.
Courage is knowing what not to fear.
Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to.
Make a habit of two things: to help; or at least to do no harm.
Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.
The goal of life is living in agreement with Nature.
The soul of him who has education is whole and perfect and escapes the worst disease, but, if a man’s education be neglected, he walks lamely through life and returns good for nothing to the world below.
All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.
As soon as laws are necessary for men, they are no longer fit for freedom.
It is certainly desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
The good leader repeats the good news, keeps the worst to himself.
War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.
Where a man is against his will, there his is imprisoned. Desire things to happen exactly as they happen and you will always be free.
Birds of a feather flock together.
False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.
Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men’s desires, but by the removal of desire.
