Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.

We ought not to listen to those who exhort us, because we are human, to think of human things....We ought rather to take on immortality as much as possible, and do all that we can to live in accordance with the highest element within us; for even if its bulk is small, in its power and value it far exceeds everything.

Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit.

The weak are always anxious for justice and equality. The strong pay no heed to either.

It is no easy task to be good.

Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.

...perhaps there is some element of good even in the simple act of living, so long as the evils of existence do not preponderate too heavily.