Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.
No matter where you find yourself, comport yourself as if you were a distinguished person.
Books are the training weights of the mind.
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
If you wish to be a writer, write.
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.
All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.
God has entrusted me with myself.
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. Stop aspiring to be anyone other than your own best self: for that does fall within your control.
I am not eternity, but a man; a part of the whole, as an hour is of the day.
What is it to be a philosopher? Is it not to be prepared against events?
Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.
He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.
Happiness and personal fulfillment are the natural consequences of doing the right thing.
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
No matter what happens, it is within my power to turn it to my advantage.
Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.