The first evil those who are prone to talk suffer, is that they hear nothing.

Of the land which the Romans gained by conquest from their neighbours, part they sold publicly, and turned the remainder into common; this common land they assigned to such of the citizens as were poor and indigent, for which they were to pay only a small acknowledgment into the public treasury. But when the wealthy men began to offer larger rents, and drive the poorer people out, it was enacted by law that no person whatever should enjoy more than five hundred acres of ground.

The most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men.

Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to practice.

As geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, and unapproachable bogs.

As soft wax is apt to take the stamp of the seal, so are the minds of young children to receive the instruction imprinted on them.

Statesmen are not only liable to give an account of what they say or do in public, but there is a busy inquiry made into their very meals, beds, marriages, and every other sportive or serious action.