Prosperity is no just scale; adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.
Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen than it inspires an impulse to practice.
It is indeed a desirable thing to be well-descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune.
In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker.
All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own.
Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.
Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an excess of courage.
Nothing is harder to direct than a man in prosperity; nothing more easily managed that one is adversity.
To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days.
Water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow.
To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.
No beast is more savage than man when possessed with power answerable to his rage.
The worship most acceptable to God comes from a thankful and cheerful heart.
Fate leads him who follows it, and drags him who resists.
The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.
A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while they are young, but also when they are old and past service.
I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be; and my veil no mortal has hitherto raised.
Lysander, when Dionysius sent him two gowns, and bade him choose which he would carry to his daughter, said, “She can choose best,” and so took both away with him.
He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.