To live each day as though one's last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing - here is the perfection of character.

Limit time to the present. Meditate upon your last hour.

Our life is what our thoughts make it. Do every act of your life as if it were your last. In a word, your life is short. You must make the most of the present with the aid of reason and justice. Since it is possible that you may be quitting life this very moment, govern every act and thought accordingly.

Take full account of what Excellencies you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.

If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgement of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgement now.

Always follow these two rules: first, act only on what your reasoning mind proposes for the good of humanity, and second, change your opinion if someone shows you it's wrong. This change of mind must proceed only from the conviction that it's both correct and for the common good, but not because it will give you pleasure and make you popular.

Aptitude found in the understanding and is often inherited. Genius coming from reason and imagination, rarely.