By a tranquil mind I mean nothing else than a mind well ordered.

And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last.

Let thy chief fort and place of defense be a mind free from passions. A stronger place and better fortified than this, hath no man.

Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.

The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.

How barbarous, to deny men the privilege of pursuing what they imagine to be their proper concerns and interests! Yet, in a sense, this is just what you are doing when you allow your indignation to rise at their wrongdoing; for after all, they are only following their own apparent concerns and interests. You say they are mistaken? Why then, tell them so, and explain it to them, instead of being indignant.

Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.