Occasions do not make a man either strong or weak but they show what he is.

Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars.

All men commend patience, although few are willing to practice it.

Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things.

All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.

If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.

But because many endeavor to get knowledge rather than to live well, they are often deceived and reap little or no benefit from their labor.