A man must not always tell all, for that be folly; but what a man says should be what he thinks.

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.

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

And if nobody reads me, shall I have wasted my time, when I have beguiled so many idle hours with such pleasant and profitable reflections?

No noble thing can be done without risks.

When Socrates, after being relieved of his irons, felt the relish of the itching that their weight had caused in his legs, he rejoiced to consider the close alliance between pain and pleasure.

To distract myself from tiresome thoughts, I have only to resort to books; they easily draw my mind to themselves and away from other things.