A man's ability cannot possibly be of one sort and his soul of another. If his soul be well-ordered, serious and restrained, his ability also is sound and sober. Conversely, when the one degenerates, the other is contaminated.

The many speak highly of you, but have you really any grounds for satisfaction with yourself if you are the kind of person the many understand?

What does reason demand of a man? A very easy thing-to live in accord with his own nature.

What view is one likely to take of the state of a person's mind when his speech is wild and incoherent and knows no constraint?

Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.

Human affairs are like a chess-game: only those who do not take it seriously can be called good players. Life is like an earthen pot: only when it is shattered, does it manifest its emptiness.

That loss is most discreditable which is caused by negligence.