I do not presume that I have found the best philosophy, I know that I understand the true philosophy.

In proportion as we endeavor to live according to the guidance of reason, shall we strive as much as possible to depend less on hope, to liberate ourselves from fear, to rule fortune, and to direct our actions by the sure counsels of reason.

In the state of nature, wrong-doing is impossible; or, if anyone does wrong, it is to himself, not to another. For no one by the law of nature is bound to please another, unless he chooses, nor to hold anything to be good or evil, but what he himself, according to his own temperament, pronounces to be so; and, to speak generally, nothing is forbidden by the law of nature, except what is beyond everyone's power.

Freedom is self-determination.

self-preservation is the primary and only foundation of virtue.

Hatred which is completely vanquished by love passes into love: and love is thereupon greater than if hatred had not preceded it.

Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words.