If fortune makes a wicked man prosperous and a good man poor, there is no need to wonder. For the wicked regard wealth as everything, the good as nothing. And the good fortune of the bad cannot take away their badness, while virtue alone will be enough for the good.

No mortal man has ever served at the same time his passions and his best interests.

Ambition breaks the ties of blood, and forgets the obligations of gratitude.

Everything rises but to fall, and increases but to decay.

Before you act consider; when you have considered, tis fully time to act.

Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.

While the body is young and fine, the soul blunders, but as the body grows old it attains its highest power. Again, every good soul uses mind; but no body can produce mind: for how should that which is without mind produce mind? Again, while the soul uses the body as an instrument, it is not in it; just as the engineer is not in his engines (although many engines move without being touched by any one).