Unless we do more than simply learn the trade of our time, we are but apprentices, and not yet masters of the art of life.

Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something.

if i repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. what demon possessed me that i behaved so well?

See how he cowers and sneaks, how vaguely all the day he fears, not being immortal nor divine, but the slave and prisoner of his own opinion of himself, a fame won by his own deeds. Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.

The rule is to carry as little as possible.

There is one thought for the field, another for the house. I would have my thoughts, like wild apples, to be food for walkers, and will not warrant them to be palatable if tasted in the house.

I only desire sincere relations with the worthiest of my acquaintance, that they may give me an opportunity once in a year to speak the truth.