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.

If your heart is quite set upon a crown, make and put on one of roses, for it will make the prettier appearance.

Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practice it, but accustom yourself to something else.

Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcome.

Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast.

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

To adorn our characters by the charm of an amiable nature shows at once a lover of beauty and a lover of man.