It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.

Against specious appearances we must set clear convictions, bright and ready for use. When death appears as an evil, we ought immediately to remember that evils are things to be avoided, but death is inevitable.

Freedom isn't the right or ability to do whatever you please. Freedom comes from understanding the limits of our own power and the inherent limits set in place by nature. By accepting life's limits and inevitabilities and working with them rather than fighting them, you become truly free.

I am not eternity, but a man; a part of the whole, as an hour is of the day.

You will do the greatest service to the state if you shall raise, not the roofs of the houses, but the souls of the citizens: for it is better that great souls should dwell in small houses rather than for mean slaves to lurk in great houses.

Freedom and happiness are won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.

Make it your business to draw out the best in others by being an exemplar yourself.