It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.

So you wish to conquer in the Olympic Games, my friend? And I, too... But first mark the conditions and the consequences. You will have to put yourself under discipline; to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats; to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or not, in cold and heat; to abstain from cold drinks and wine at your will. Then, in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, to be severely thrashed, and after all of these things, to be defeated.

Wish that everything should come about just as it does.

It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.

Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.

If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.

Unremarkable lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new.