We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

God has entrusted me with myself.

Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

Freedom is the right to live as we wish.

Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.

It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.

Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed.

All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way.

If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.

If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.

Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.

We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free.

Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.

We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope.

When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.

No great thing is created suddenly.

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.

Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.

The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.

It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.