We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.

It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible.

Everything is here for a purpose, from horses to vine shoots. What's surprising about that? Even the sun will tell you, "I have a purpose," and the other goods as well.

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.

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

In the same degree in which a man's mind is nearer to freedom from all passion, in the same degree also is it nearer to strength.

Imagine you were now dead, or had not lived before his moment. Now view the rest of your life as a bonus.