The art of not reading is a very important one. It consists in not taking an interest in whatever may be engaging the attention of the general public at any particular time. When some political or ecclesiastical pamphlet, or novel, or poem is making a great commotion, you should remember that he who writes for fools always finds a large public. A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short.

Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another.

Life is short and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.

Want and boredom are indeed the twin poles of human life.

It takes place, by and large, with the same sort of necessity as a tree brings forth fruit, and demands of the world no more than a soil on which the individual can flourish.

Solitude will be welcomed or endured or avoided, according as a man's personal value is large or small.

Life is a task to be done. It is a fine thing to say defunctus est; it means that the man has done his task.