Men cling to life even at the cost of enduring great misfortune.

My lectures are published and not published; they will be intelligible to those who heard them, and to none beside.

Here and elsewhere we shall not obtain the best insight into things until we actually see them growing from the beginning.

Men become richer not only by increasing their existing wealth but also by decreasing their expenditure.

The happy life is regarded as a life in conformity with virtue. It is a life which involves effort and is not spent in amusement.

Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear and pity. Such an effect is best produced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened when, at the same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic wonder will then be great than if they happened of themselves or by accident; for even coincidences are most striking when they have an air of design.

The two qualities which chiefly inspire regard and affection are that a thing is your own and that it is your only one.