A man must first govern himself ere he is fit to govern a family; and his family ere he be fit to bear the government of the commonwealth.

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

Be advised what thou dost discourse of, and what thou maintainest whether touching religion, state, or vanity; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be accounted profane; if in the second, dangerous; if in the third, indiscreet and foolish.

Better it were not to live than to live a coward.

So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lieth.

A professional man of letters, especially if he is much at war with unscrupulous enemies, is naturally jealous of his privacy; he will be silent on his more personal interests, or, if he must speak, will veil them under conventional forms.

No one is wise or safe, but they that are honest.