To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.

All that lies betwixt the cradle and the grave is uncertain.

Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears; the effect of precepts is therefore slow and tedious, whilst that of examples is summary and effectual.

The road by precepts is tedious, by example, short and efficacious.

To see a man fearless in dangers, untainted with lusts, happy in adversity, composed in a tumult, and laughing at all those things which are generally either coveted or feared, all men must acknowledge that this can be from nothing else but a beam of divinity that influences a mortal body.

One must take all one's life to learn how to leave, and what will perhaps make you wonder more, one must take all one's life to learn how to die.

There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.