Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand.

Maturity of mind is best shown in slow belief.

All men are idolators, some of fame, others of self-interest, most of pleasure.

You can cultivate taste, as you can the intellect. Full understanding whets the appetite and desire, and, later, sharpens the enjoyment of possession.

The true way is the middle one, halfway between deserving a place and pushing oneself into it.

There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness.

Keep the extent of your abilities unknown.The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honored at all. He allows you to know them but not to comprehend them. No one must know the extent of his abilities, lest he be disappointed. No one ever has an opportunity of fathoming him entirely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.