Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else.

What does not benefit the hive is no benefit to the bee.

Just consider, my friend, whether a pure spirit and virtue are anything other than saving your life and being saved. Perhaps we need to discard the idea of longevity and cease loving this life, instead committing these things to God and, believing that no one ever escapes destiny, to consider, with that in mind, how we may live the best possible life in the time that remains.

The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.

Submit to the fate of your own free will.

Discard everything except these few truths: we can live only in the present moment, in this brief now; all the rest of our life is dead and buried or shrouded in uncertainty. Short is the life we lead, and small our patch of earth.

For outward show is a wonderful perverter of the reason.