The fruits of philosophy are the important thing, not the philosophy itself. When we ask the time, we don't want to know how watches are made.

The human tendency to regard little things as important has produced very many great things.

We say that someone occupies an official position, whereas it is the official position that occupies him.

I am grateful that I am not as judgmental as all those censorious, self-righteous people around me. In each of us there is a little of all of us.

The fly that doesn't want to be swatted is most secure when it lights on the fly-swatter.

Perseverance can lend the appearance of dignity and grandeur to many actions, just as silence in company affords wisdom and apparent intelligence to a stupid person.

People often become scholars for the same reason they become soldiers: simply because they are unfit for any other station. Their right hand has to earn them a livelihood; one might say they lie down like bears in winter and seek sustenance from their paws.