Of all the gifts that wise Providence grants us to make life full and happy, friendship is the most beautiful.

It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.

Men, believing in myths, will always fear something terrible, everlasting punishment as certain or probable . . . Men base all these fears not on mature opinions, but on irrational fancies, that they are more disturbed by fear of the unknown than by facing facts. Peace of mind lies in being delivered from all these fears.

He who says either that the time for philosophy has not yet come or that it has passed is like someone who says that the time for happiness has not yet come or that it has passed.

Never say that I have taken it, only that I have given it back.

The things you really need are few and easy to come by; but the things you can imagine you need are infinite, and you will never be satisfied.

The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.