A straight oar looks bent in the water. It matters not merely that we see a thing, but how we see it.

A tutor should not be continually thundering instruction into the ears of his pupil, as if he were pouring it through a funnel, but, after having put the lad, like a young horse, on a trot, before him, to observe his paces, and see what he is able to perform, should, according to the extent of his capacity, induce him to taste, to distinguish, and to find out things for himself; sometimes opening the way, at other times leaving it for him to open; and by abating or increasing his own pace, accommodate his precepts to the capacity of his pupil.

Whoever will be cured of ignorance, let him confess it.

The births of all things are weak and tender and therefore we should have our eyes intent on beginnings.

Experience has taught me this, that we undo ourselves by impatience. Misfortunes have their life and their limits, their sickness and their health.

Once you have decided to keep a certain pile, it is no longer yours; for you can't spend it.

I had rather fashion my mind than furnish it.