We ought to flee the friendship of the wicked, and the enmity of the good.

If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.

Nothing great is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen.

All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.

We are not to lead events, but to follow them.

Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed.

Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task.