Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make upon you, for their censures are not in your power and should not be at all your concerns.

Some of their faults men readily admit, but others not so readily.

In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught;but in life there are many things to draw us aside.

Ask yourself: Does this appearance (of events) concern the things that are within my own control or those that are not? If it concerns anything outside your control, train yourself not to worry about it.

The foolish and the uneducated have little use for freedom. Only the educated are free.

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.

Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan.