Quote collection
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"In true friendship, in which I am expert, I give myself to my friend more than I draw him to me. I not only like doing him good better than having him do me good, but also would rather have him do good to himself than to me; he does me most good when he does himself good."
"Time steals away without any inconvenience."
"The most regular and most perfect soul in the world has but too much to do to keep itself upright from being overthrown by its own weakness."
"A man must learn to endure patiently what he cannot avoid conveniently."
"It is an absolute perfection and virtually divine to know how to enjoy our being rightfully."
"All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed."
"And if nobody reads me, shall I have wasted my time, when I have beguiled so many idle hours with such pleasant and profitable reflections?"
"... whoever believes anything esteems that it is a work of charity to persuade another of it."
"Things seem greater by imagination than they are in effect."
"Of the opinions of philosophy I most gladly embrace those that are most solid, that is to say, most human and most our own; my opinions, in conformity with my conduct, are low and humble."
"So it is with minds. Unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them, they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination... And there is no mad or idle fancy that they do not bring forth in the agitation."
"Presumption is our natural and original malady. The most vulnerable and frail of all creatures is man, and at the same time the most arrogant."
"To philosophize is to learn to die."
"Whether the events in our life are good or bad, greatly depends on the way we perceive them."
"It is a human tendency "to measure truth and error by our capacity.""
"I do not speak the minds of others except to speak my own mind better."
"We commend a horse for his strength, and sureness of foot, and not for his rich caparisons; a greyhound for his share of heels, not for his fine collar; a hawk for her wing, not for her jesses and bells. Why, in like manner, do we not value a man for what is properly his own? He has a great train, a beautiful palace, so much credit, so many thousand pounds a year, and all these are about him, but not in him."
"Love to his soul gave eyes; he knew things are not as they seem. The dream is his real life; the world around him is the dream."
"In my opinion, every rich man is a miser."
"In plain truth, lying is an accursed vice. We are not men, nor have any other tie upon another, but by our word."