Better to starve free than be a fat slave

It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray.

Never trust advice from a man in the throes of his own difficulty.

Little by little does the trick.

A wild boar was sharpening his tusks upon the trunk of a tree in the forest when a fox came by and asked, Why are you doing that, pray? The huntsmen are not out today and there are no other dangers at hand that I can see. True, my friend, replied the Boar, but the instant my life is in danger, I shall need to use my tusks. There will be no time to sharpen them then.

All men are more concerned to recover what they lose than to acquire what they lack.

Slow but steady wins the race.