The mind is a matter over every kind of fortune; itself acts in both ways, being the cause of its own happiness and misery.

The man who thinks only of his own generation is born for few.

The worst evil of all is to leave the ranks of the living before one dies.

The wise man will not pardon any crime that ought to be punished, but he will accomplish, in a nobler way, all that is sought in pardoning. He will spare some and watch over some, because of their youth, and others on account of their ignorance. His clemency will not fall short of justice, but will fulfill it perfectly.

Democracy is more cruel than wars or tyrants.

The great thing is to know when to speak and when to keep quiet.

Those things which make the infernal regions terrible, the darkness, the prison, the river of flaming fire, the judgment seat, are all a fable, with which the poets amuse themselves, and by them agitate us with vain terrors.