We are nearer loving those who hate us than those who love us more than we wish.

We own up to minor failings, but only so as to convince others that we have no major ones.

A man, in order to establish himself in the world, does everything he can to appear established there.

A clever man reaps some benefit from the worst catastrophe, and a fool can turn even good luck to his disadvantage.

To safeguard one's health at the cost of too strict a diet is a tiresome illness, indeed.

That man, we may be sure, is a person of true worth, whom those who envy him most are yet forced to praise.

Luxury and excessive refinement are sure forerunners of the decadence of states, because when all individuals seek their own interests they neglect the public weal.