This is the part of a great man, after he has maturely weighed all circumstances, to punish the guilty, to spare the many, and in every state of fortune not to depart from an upright, virtuous conduct.

The man who is always fortunate cannot easily have a great reverence for virtue.

No one can speak well, unless he thoroughly understands his subject.

Each part of life has its own pleasures. Each has its own abundant harvest, to be garnered in season. We may grow old in body, but we need never grow old in mind and spirit. No one is as old as to think he or she cannot live one more year.

Nothing is so swift as calumny, nothing is more easily propagated, nothing more readily credited, nothing more widely circulated.

In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.

Friendship makes prosperity more brilliant, and lightens adversity by dividing and sharing it.