Am I doing anything? I do it with reference to the good of mankind. Does anything happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the gods, and the source of all things, from which all that happens is derived.

Take away the complaint, 'I have been harmed,' and the harm is taken away.

Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.

As for others whose lives are not so ordered, he reminds himself constantly of the characters they exhibit daily and nightly at home and abroad, and of the sort of society they frequent; and the approval of such men, who do not even stand well in their own eyes, has no value for him.

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

Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in our life, living for other people and doing good for them.

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.