It would not be difficult to be a better ruler than I was: for I admit that I ruled badly; and even if I was fortunate enough to satisfy my subjects, I was not fortunate enough to satisfy myself.
I was born, have lived, and will die free.
Nuns and married women are equally unhappy, if in different ways.
We grow old more through indolence, than through age.
We read for instruction, for correction, and for consolation.
It is a far greater happiness to obey no one than to rule the whole world.