To speak well of a base man is much the same as speaking ill of a good man.

Nature varies the seed according to the variety of the things she desires to produce in the world.

The length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height.

Constancy does not begin, but is that which perseveres.

After painting comes Sculpture, a very noble art, but one that does not in the execution require the same supreme ingenuity as the art of painting, since in two most important and difficult particulars, in foreshortening and in light and shade, for which the painter has to invent a process, sculpture is helped by nature. Moreover, Sculpture does not imitate color which the painter takes pains to attune so that the shadows accompany the lights.

Test knowledge through experience, be prepared to make mistakes, and be persistent about it.

Oysters open completely when the moon is full; and when the crab sees one it throws a piece of stone or seaweed into it and the oyster cannot close again so that it serves the crab for meat. Such is the fate of him who opens his mouth too much and thereby puts himself at the mercy of the listener.