Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age.

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.

Between friends there is no need for justice, but people who are just still need the quality of friendship; and indeed friendliness is considered to be justice in the fullest sense.

Virtue is more clearly shown in the performance of fine ACTIONS than in the non-performance of base ones.

Nature herself, as has been often said, requires that we should be able, not only to work well, but to use leisure well; for, as I must repeat once again, the first principle of all action is leisure. Both are required, but leisure is better than occupation and is its end.

In a word, acts of any kind produce habits or characters of the same kind. Hence we ought to make sure that our acts are of a certain kind; for the resulting character varies as they vary. It makes no small difference, therefore, whether a man be trained in his youth up in this way or that, but a great difference, or rather all the difference.

The self-indulgent man craves for all pleasant things... and is led by his appetite to choose these at the cost of everything else.