There is no food more satiating than milk and honey; and just as such foods produce disgust for the palate, so perfumed and gallant words make our ears belch.

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.

Desire is poison at lunch and wormwood at dinner; your bed is a stone, friendship is hateful and your fancy is always fixed on one thing.

The art of war is like the art of the courtesan; indeed they might be called sisters, since both are slaves of desperation.

They merit more praise who know how to suffer misery than those who temper themselves in contentment.

Even when I'm railed at, I get my quota of renown.

I keep my friends as misers do their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship.