There are friendships merely for pleasure, some for the exchange of ideas. Rarest are those friends of one's inmost self.

Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.

Never risk your reputation on a single shot, for if you miss the loss is irreparable.

They make the greatest show of what they have done, who have done least.

A person of your century: Great persons are of their time. Not all were born into a period worthy of them, and many so born failed to benefit by it. Some merited a better century, for all that is good does not always triumph. Fashions have their periods and even the greatest virtues, their styles. But the philosopher, being ageless, has one advantage: Should this not prove the right century, many to follow will.

Don't show off every day, or you'll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent.

No one demands more caution than a spy, and when someone has the skeleton key to minds, counter him by leaving the key of caution inside, on the other side of the keyhole.