Covetous ambition, thinking all too little which presently it hath, supposeth itself to stand in need of that which it hath not.

[It is a basic principle of a tyrant] to unarm his people of weapons, money and all means whereby they resist his power.

No man is esteemed for colorful garments except by fools and women.

In a letter to a friend the thought is often unimportant, and the feeling, if it be only a desire to entertain him, every thing.

Men endure the losses that befall them by mere casualty with more patience than the damages they sustain by injustice.

If any friend desire thee to be his surety, give him a part of what thou hast to spare; if he press thee further, he is not thy friend at all, for friendship rather chooseth harm to itself than offereth it. If thou be bound for a stranger, thou art a fool; if for a merchant, thou puttest thy estate to learn to swim.

He that doth not as other men do, but endeavoureth that which ought to be done, shall thereby rather incur peril than preservation; for who so laboreth to be sincerely perfect and good shall necessarily perish, living among men that are generally evil.