I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.

Most people do not understand until old age what Plato tells them when they are young.

For the rich men without scruple drew the estate into their own hands, excluding the rightful heirs from their succession; and all the wealth being centred upon the few, the generality were poor and miserable. Honourable pursuits, for which there was no longer leisure, were neglected; the state was filled with sordid business, and with hatred and envy of the rich.

Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer.

It is circumstance and proper measure that give an action its character, and make it either good or bad.

Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little.

It is no flattery to give a friend a due character; for commendation is as much the duty of a friend as reprehension.