The artisan or scientist or the follower of whatever discipline who has the habit of comparing himself not with other followers but with the discipline itself will have a lower opinion of himself, the more excellent he is.

There are some centuries which - apart from everything else - in the art and other disciplines presume to remake everything because they know how to make nothing.

Death is not an evil, because it frees us from all evils, and while it takes away good things, it takes away also the desire for them. Old age is the supreme evil, because it deprives us of all pleasures, leaving us only the appetite for them, and it brings with it all sufferings. Nevertheless, we fear death, and we desire old age.

Death is not evil, for it frees man from all ills and takes away his desires along with desire's rewards.

The thought that really crushes us is the thought of the futility of life of which death is the visible manifestation.

The end of pain we take as happiness.

In all climates, under all skies, man's happiness is always somewhere else.