To the Greeks, the supreme function of music was to "praise the gods and educate the youth". In Egypt... Initiatory music was heard only in Temple rites because it carried the vibratory rhythms of other worlds and of a life beyond the mortal.

Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an excess of courage.

Lamentation is the only musician that always, like a screech-owl, alights and sits on the roof of any angry man.

When the strong box contains no more both friends and flatterers shun the door.

The authors of great evils know best how to remove them.

Sometimes small incidents, rather than glorious exploits, give us the best evidence of character. So, as portrait painters are more exact in doing the face, where the character is revealed, than the rest of the body, I must be allowed to give my more particular attention to the marks of the souls of men.

As bees extract honey from thyme, the strongest and driest of herbs, so sensible men often get advantage and profit from the most awkward circumstances.