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.

Why should the eyes be denied what delights them most?

Angry men are blind and foolish, for reason at such time takes flight and, in her absence; wrath plunders all the riches of the intellect, while the judgment remains the prisoner of its own pride.

I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies.

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

Learning is the property of those who fear to do disagreeable things.

The best thing for a man to do is to be born and, being born, to die at once.