No one should be subjected to force over things which belonged to him.

Oh, a friend! How true is that old saying, that the enjoyment of one is sweeter and more necessary than that of the elements of water and fire!

Don't discuss yourself, for you are bound to lose; if you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved.

Desire and hope will push us on toward the future.

When all is summed up, a man never speaks of himself without loss; his accusations of himself are always believed; his praises never.

Our wisdom and deliberation for the most part follow the lead of chance.

Covetousness is both the beginning and the end of the devil's alphabet - the first vice in corrupt nature that moves, and the last which dies.