In a troubled state we must do as in foul weather upon a river, not think to cut directly through, for the boat may be filled with water; but rise and fall as the waves do, and give way as much as we conveniently can.

Preachers say, "Do as I say, not as I do." But if a physician had the same disease upon him that I have, and he should bid me do one thing and he do quite another, could I believe him?

Patience is the chiefest fruit of study; a man that strives to make himself different from other men by much reading gains this chiefest good, that in all fortunes he hath something to entertain and comfort himself withal.

Pleasure is nothing else but the intermission of pain.

The happiness of married life depends upon making small sacrifices with readiness and cheerfulness.

Idolatry is in a man's own thought, not in the opinion of another.

'Tis not the eating, nor 'tis not the drinking that is to be blamed, but the excess.