It were better to have no opinion of God at all than such a one as is unworthy of him; for the one is only belief - the other contempt.

The superstitious man wishes he did not believe in gods, as the atheist does not, but fears to disbelieve in them.

Gout is not relieved by a fine shoe nor a hangnail by a costly ring nor migraine by a tiara.

He is a fool who leaves things close at hand to follow what is out of reach.

Nature without learning is like a blind man; learning without Nature, like a maimed one; practice without both, incomplete. As in agriculture a good soil is first sought for, then a skilful husbandman, and then good seed; in the same way nature corresponds to the soil, the teacher to the husbandman, precepts and instruction to the seed.

A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while they are young, but when old and past service.

So long as he was personally present, [Alcibiades] had the perfect mastery of his political adversaries; calumny only succeeded in his absence.