It is a true observation of ancient writers, that as men are apt to be cast down by adversity, so they, are easily satiated with prosperity, and that joy and grief produce the same effects. For whenever men are not obliged by necessity to fight they fight from ambition, which is so powerful a passion in the human breast that however high we reach we are never satisfied.

the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.

Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.

Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.

It has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain as fame or power not founded on its own strength.

My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved.