That moderation which nature prescribes, which limits our desires by resources restricted to our needs, has abandoned the field; it has now come to this -- that to want only what is enough is a sign both of boorishness and of utter destitution.

Those that are a friend to themselves are sure to be a friend to all.

The good things of prosperity are to be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.

Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: " Is this the condition that I feared?"

Everyone rushes his life on, and suffers from a yearning for the future and a boredom with the present. But that man who devotes every hour to his own needs, who plans every day as if it were his last, neither longs for nor fears tomorrow.

The kind of solace that arises from having company in misery is spiteful.

The most imperious masters over their own servants are at the same time the most abject slaves to the servants of others.