Epicurus says, "gratitude is a virtue that has commonly profit annexed to it." And where is the virtue that has not? But still the virtue is to be valued for itself, and not for the profit that attends it.

Our life's a moment and less than a moment, but even this mite nature has mockingly humored with some appearance of a longer span.

Let ease and rest at times be given to the weary.

There has never been any great genius without a spice of madness.

My advice is really this: what we hear the philosophers saying and what we find in their writings should be applied in our pursuit of the happy life. We should hunt out the helpful pieces of teaching and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application-not far far-fetched or archaic expressions or extravagant metaphors and figures of speech-and learn them so well that words become works.

The ascent from earth to heaven is not easy.

It is quality rather than quantity that matters.