A talent can be cultivated in tranquility; a character only in the rushing stream of life.

Paternity is based anyhow only upon conviction: I am convinced, therefore, I am the father.

[W]hat counts is that one perceives excellence and dares to give it expression, which sounds little but is in fact a great deal.

The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honour or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.

If we examine every stage of our lives, we find that from our first breath to our last we are under the constraint of circumstances. And yet we still possess the greatest of all freedoms, the power of developing our innermost selves in harmony with the moral order of the universe, and so winning peace of heart whatever obstacles we meet.

If everyone sweeps before his own front door, then the street is clean.

If you inquire what people are like here, I must answer, "The same as everywhere."