I had rather complain of ill-fortune than be ashamed of victory.

Were I to live my life over again, I should live it just as I have done. I neither complain of the past, nor do I fear the future.

Difficulty is a coin the learned make use of like jugglers, to conceal the inanity of their art.

If these Essays were worthy of being judged, it might fall out, in my opinion, that they would not find much favour, either with common and vulgar minds, or with uncommon and eminent ones: the former would not find enough in them, the latter would find too much; they might manage to live somewhere in the middle region.

It is an injustice that an old, broken, half-dead father should enjoy alone, in a corner of his hearth, possessions that would suffice for the advancement and maintenance of many children.

Happiness involves working toward meaningful goals.

Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.