Liberty is of more value than any gifts; and to receive gifts is to lose it. Be assured that men most commonly seek to oblige thee only that they may engage thee to serve them.

Have patience. Everything is difficult before it is easy.

Shut the door of that house of pleasure which you hear resounding with the loud voice of a woman.

Anger that has no limit causes terror, and unseasonable kindness does away with respect. Be not so severe as to cause disgust, nor so lenient as to make people presume.

Oh God, I say not hear my prayers! I say: Blot with forgiving pen my sins away!

Two orders of mankind are the enemies of church and state; the king without clemency, and the holy man without learning.

Whoever recounts to you the faults of your neighbour will doubtless expose your defects to others.