And yet, after all, what is posthumous fame? Altogether vanity.

How ridiculous not to flee from one's own wickedness, which is possible, yet endeavor to flee from another's which is not.

Observe and contemplate on the hidden things of life: how a man's seed is but the beginning, it takes others to bring it to fruition. Think how food undergoes such changes to produce health and strength. See the power of these hidden things which, like the wind cannot been seen, but its effects can be.

Everything that happens, happens as it should.

In the end, what would you gain from everlasting remembrance? Absolutely nothing. So what is left worth living for? This alone: justice in thought, goodness in action, speech that cannot deceive, and a disposition glad of whatever comes, welcoming it as necessary, as familiar, as flowing from the same source and fountain as yourself.

The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.