The wise man tells not what he knows. It is not prudent to sport with one's head by revealing the king's secrets.

To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a saber: for though the wound may heal, the scar of it will remain.

The sons of Adam are formed from dust; if not humble as the dust, they fall short of being men.

To use the hands in making quicklime into mortar is better than to cross them on the breast in attendance on a prince.

He who learns, and makes no use of his learning, is a beast of burden with a load of books. Does the ass comprehend whether he carries on his back a library or a bundle of faggots?

Religion is only in the service of the people; it is not in the rosary and the prayer-carpet.

But for the cravings of the belly not a bird would have fallen into the snare; nay, nay, the fowler would not have spread his net. The belly is chains to the hands and fetters to the feet. He who is a slave to his belly seldom worships God.