Believe me, that was a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of builders.
No one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied to.
Success is not greedy, as people think, but insignificant. That is why it satisfies nobody.
What nature requires is obtainable, and within easy reach. It is for the superfluous we sweat.
Great grief does not of itself put an end to itself.
All art is but imitation of nature.
We are more often frightened than hurt and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.
If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
If you wished to be loved, love.
It makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin.
Precepts or maxims are of great weight and a few useful ones on hand do more to produce a happy life than the volumes we can't find.
There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.
In war, when a commander becomes so bereft of reason and perspective that he fails to understand the dependence of arms on Divine guidance, he no longer deserves victory.
The wish for healing has always been half of health.
Shall I tell you what the real evil is? To cringe to the things that are called evils, to surrender to them our freedom, in defiance of which we ought to face any suffering.
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.
We can be thankful to a friend for a few acres, or a little money and yet for the freedom and command of the whole earth, and for the great benefits of our being, our life, health, and reason, we look...
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.