Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.

From now on practice saying to everything that appears unpleasant: You are merely an appearance and NOT what you appear to be.

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

If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.

If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.

Never depend on the admiration of others for self-satisfaction. It is a fact of life that other people, even people who love you, will not necessarily agree with your ideas, understand you always, or share your enthusiasms.

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.