When you lie down on your bed to sleep, remember with thanksgiving the blessings and the providence of God.

To say that God turns away from the sinful is like saying that the sun hides from the blind.

This is the great work of a man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God, and toexpect temptation to his last breath.

One should not say that it is impossible to reach a virtuous life; but one should say that it is not easy. Nor do those who have reached it find it easy to maintain.

Regard as free not those whose status makes them outwardly free, but those who are free in their character and conduct. For we should not call men truly free when they are wicked and dissolute, since they are slaves to worldly passions. Freedom and happiness of soul consist in genuine purity and detachment from transitory things.

Intelligent men have no need to listen to much talk, but should attend only to that which is profitable and guided by God's will.

The person who abides in solitude and quiet is delivered from fighting three battles: hearing, speech, and sight. Then there remains one battle to fight-the battle of the heart.