There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a mind to do it. If a man borrows a paltry sum of money, there must needs be bonds and securities, and every common civility is presently charged upon account. But he who has my time thinks he owes me nothing for it, though it be a debt that gratitude itself can never repay.

It is man's duty to live in conformity with the divine will, and this means, firstly, bringing his life into line with 'nature's laws', and secondly, resigning himself completely and uncomplainingly to whatever fate may send him. Only by living thus, and not setting too high a value on things which can at any moment be taken away from him, can he discover that true, unshakeable peace and contentment to which ambition, luxury and above all avarice are among the greatest obstacles.

The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin.

The mind should be allowed some relaxation, that it may return to its work all the better for the rest.

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

All we see and admire today will burn in the universal fire that ushers in a new, just, happy world.

Good sides to adversity are best admired at a distance.