It is a great matter to be in authority over others; for authority, if it be rightly used, will make you feared beyond your actual resources.

There is nothing so fleeting as the memory of benefits received.

How much luckier than all the rest of mankind are the astrologers who, if they tell one truth among a hundred lies, obtain so much credit that even their lies are believed.

Even though many people prove to be ungrateful, do not let that stop you from benefiting others-for not only is beneficence in itself a noble and almost divine quality, it may also happen that while you practice it, you will encounter someone so grateful that he will make up for all the others' ingratitude.

He who imitates what is evil always goes beyond the example that is set; on the contrary, he who imitates what is good always falls short.

The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident.

Affairs that depend on many rarely succeed.