No man esteems anything that comes to him by chance; but when it is governed by reason, it brings credit both to the giver and receiver; whereas those favors are in some sort scandalous that make a man ashamed of his patron.

The mind does not easily unlearn what it has been long in learning.

As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit

Now we are not merely to stick knowledge on to the soul: we must incorporate it into her; the soul should not be sprinkled with knowledge but steeped in it.

It is easy enough to arouse in a listener a desire for what is honorable; for in every one of us nature has laid the foundations or sown the seeds of the virtues. We are born to them all, all of us, and when a person comes along with the necessary stimulus, then those qualities of the personality are awakened, so to speak, from their slumber.

To things which you bear with impatience you should accustom yourself, and, by habit you will bear them well.

You can only acquire it successfully if you cease to feel any sense of shame.