Blessed are the weak who think that they are good because they have no claws.

Things which are accidentally the causes either of hope or fear are called good or evil omens.

Men would never be superstitious, if they could govern all their circumstances by set rules, or if they were always favoured by fortune: but being frequently driven into straits where rules are useless, and being often kept fluctuating pitiably between hope and fear by the uncertainty of fortune's greedily coveted favours, they are consequently for the most part, very prone to credulity.

. . . to know the order of nature, and regard the universe as orderly is the highest function of the mind.

Only that thing is free which exists by the necessities of its own nature, and is determined in its actions by itself alone.

It is usually the case with most men that their nature is so constituted that they pity those who fare badly and envy those who fare well.

He who lives according to the guidance of reason strives as much as possible to repay the hatred, anger, or contempt of others towards himself with love or generosity. ...hatred is increased by reciprocal hatred, and, on the other hand, can be extinguished by love, so that hatred passes into love.