The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.
— Marcus Tullius Cicero
What one has, one ought to use: and whatever he does he should do with all his might.
Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.
What an ugly beast the ape, and how like us.
Ability without honor is useless.
Laws are silent in time of war.
Let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies, and who believe this to be great and manly. Nothing is so praiseworthy, nothing so clearly shows a great and noble soul, as clemency and readiness to forgive.
The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.
As I approve of a youth that has something of the old man in him, so I am no less pleased with an old man that has something of the youth. He that follows this rule may be old in body, but can never be so in mind.
So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge.
What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation?
Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature and moderation and reason.
Nature abhors annihilation.
True glory takes root, and even spreads; all false pretences, like flowers, fall to the ground; nor can any counterfeit last long.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.
This is the truth: as from a fire aflame thousands of sparks come forth, even so from the Creator an infinity of beings have life and to him return again.
It is foolish to tear one's hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.
Empire and liberty.
As fire when thrown into water is cooled down and put out, so also a false accusation when brought against a man of the purest and holiest character, boils over and is at once dissipated, and vanishes and threats of heaven and sea, himself standing unmoved.
Like associates with like.
We should not be so taken up in the search for truth, as to neglect the needful duties of active life; for it is only action that gives a true value and commendation to virtue.
Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.
Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.
In a disordered mind, as in a disordered body, soundness of health is impossible.
A tear dries quickly when it is shed for troubles of others.
Advice in old age is foolish; for what can be more absurd than to increase our provisions for the road the nearer we approach to our journey's end.
To live is to think.
Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.
One who sees the Supersoul accompanying the individual soul in all bodies and who understands that neither the soul nor the Supersoul is ever destroyed, actually sees.
If you pursue good with labor, the labor passes away but the good remains; if you pursue evil with pleasure, the pleasure passes away and the evil remains.
The rule of friendship means there should be mutual sympathy between them, each supplying what the other lacks and trying to benefit the other, always using friendly and sincere words.
That last day does not bring extinction to us, but change of place.
True nobility is exempt from fear.
I criticize by creation - not by finding fault.
Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.
Brevity is the best recommendation of speech, whether in a senator or an orator.
When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff.
I add this, that rational ability without education has oftener raised man to glory and virtue, than education without natural ability.
The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.
No one can give you better advice than yourself.
Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.
An unjust peace is better than a just war.
Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.
In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.
You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long.
The countenance is the portrait of the soul, and the eyes mark its intentions.
Liberty consists in the power of doing that which is permitted by the law.
What is thine is mine, and all mine is thine.
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.
The nobler a man, the harder it is for him to suspect inferiority in others.
