Men are most apt to believe what they least understand; and through the lust of human wit obscure things are more easily credited.

Nothing is more useful than wine for strengthening the body and also more detrimental to our pleasure if moderation be lacking.

The desire to know a thing is heightened by its gratification being deferred.

....shellfish are the prime cause of the decline of morals and the adaptation of an extravagant lifestyle.

Compassion and shame come over one who considers how precarious is the origin of the proudest of living beings: often the smell of a lately extinguished lamp is enough to cause a miscarriage. And to think that from such a frail beginning a tyrant or butcher may be born! You who trust in your physical strength, who embrace the gifts of fortune and consider yourself not their ward but their son, you who have a domineering spirit, you who consider yourself a god as soon as success swells your breast, think how little could have destroyed you!

In comparing various authors with one another, I have discovered that some of the gravest and latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from former works, without making acknowledgment.

The best plan is to profit by the folly of others.