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.
To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.
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...
The display of grief makes more demands than grief itself. How few men are sad in their own company.
The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.
It is another's fault if he be ungrateful, but it is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man, I will oblige a great many that are not so.
Where fear is, happiness is not.
It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.
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.
Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.
Genius always gives its best at first prudence, at last.
Time discovers truth.
Everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.
He that does good to another does good also to himself.
Call it Nature, Fate, Fortune all these are names of the one and selfsame God.
Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all.
As long as you live, keep learning how to live.
The bad fortune of the good turns their faces up to heaven the good fortune of the bad bows their heads down to the earth.