If you would have me weep, you must first of all feel grief yourself.

Dare to begin! He who postpones living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.

The body oppressed by excesses bears down the mind, and depresses to the earth any portion of the divine spirit we had been endowed with.

He who speaks ill of an absent friend, or fails to take his part if attacked by another, that man is a scoundrel.

All else-valor, a good name, glory, everything in heaven and earth-is secondary to the charm of riches.

Nothing's beautiful from every point of view.

God can change the lowest to the highest, abase the proud, and raise the humble.