Everybody loves a thing more if it has cost him trouble: for instance those who have made money love money more than those who have inherited it.

The mass of mankind are evidently slavish in their tastes, preferring a life suitable to beasts.

It is not sufficient to know what one ought to say, but one must also know how to say it.

Money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent. Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural.

The structural unity of the parts is such that, if any one of them is displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and dis­turbed. For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visible difference is not an organic part of the whole.

Gentleness is the ability to bear reproaches and slights with moderation, and not to embark on revenge quickly, and not to be easily provoked to anger, but be free from bitterness and contentiousness, having tranquility and stability in the spirit.

But also philosophy is not about perceptible substances they, you see, are prone to destruction.