It were no slight attainment could we merely fulfil what the nature of man implies.

These reasonings are unconnected: "I am richer than you, therefore I am better"; "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better." The connection is rather this: "I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours;" "I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours." But you, after all, are neither property nor style.

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

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.

Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices me wherever I am or whatever I do.

When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or resent it.

Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.