Many exceedingly rich men are unhappy, but many middling circumstances are fortunate.

When life is so burdensome death has become a sought after refuge.

For as the body grows old, so the wits grow old and become blind towards all things alike.

The most hateful grief of all human griefs is to have knowledge of a truth, but no power over the event.

Of all possessions a friend is the most precious.

If an important decision is to be made, they [the Persians] discuss the question when they are drunk, and the following day the master of the house where the discussion was held submits their decision for reconsideration when they are sober. If they still approve it, it is adopted; if not, it is abandoned. Conversely, any decision they make when they are sober, is reconsidered afterwards when they are drunk.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.