There is nothing grand or noble in having the use of a slave, in so far as he is a slave; or in issuing commands about necessary things. But it is an error to suppose that every sort of rule is despotic like that of a master over slaves, for there is as great a difference between the rule over freemen and the rule over slaves as there is between slavery by nature and freedom by nature . .

... There must then be a principle of such a kind that its substance is activity.

In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge.

Let us first understand the facts and then we may seek the cause.

The high-minded man is fond of conferring benefits, but it shames him to receive them.

What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.

The man with a host of friends who slaps on the back everybody he meets is regarded as the friend of nobody.