We feel a kind of bittersweet pricking of malicious delight in contemplating the misfortunes of others.

Intemperance is the plaque of sensuality, and temperance is not its bane but its seasoning.

I do not correct my first imaginings by my second--well, yes, perhaps a word or so, but only to vary, not to delete. I want to represent the course of my humors and I want people to see each part at its birth.

Why did I love her? Because it was her; because it was me.

The study of books is a drowsy and feeble exercise which does not warm you up.

Socrates and then Archesilaus used to make their pupils speak first; they spoke afterwards. 'Obest plerumque iss discere volunt authoritas eorum qui docent.' [For those who want to learn, the obstacle can often be the authority of those who teach]

A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.