If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.
I have taken so kindly to idleness that I can’t tear myself away from it. So either I amuse myself with books, of which I have a good stock at Antium, or I count the waves – the weather is unsuitable for mackerel fishing... And my sole form of political activity is to hate the rascals, and even that I do without anger.
It is not merriment and wantonness, nor laughter or jesting, the comrade of frivolity, that make men happy; those are happy, often in sadness, whose wills are strong and true.
It’s not by strength or speed or swiftness of body that great deeds are done, but by wisdom, character, and sober judgment.
This shows how a man who practices exercise and self-control can preserve some of his original vigor even when he grows old.
Nothing is more damaging to a state, nothing so contrary to justice and law, nothing less appropriate to a civilized community, than to force through a measure by violence where a country has a settled and established constitution.
However one defines man, the same definition applies to us all.
The reward of friendship is friendship itself.
The closer the collapse of the Empire, the crazier its laws are.
No one can be a sound judge if he does not give due weight to convincing suspicions.
If you have a library in your garden, everything will be complete.
Honesty is the best policy.
For old age is respected only if it defends itself, maintains its rights, submits to no one, and rules over its domain until its last breath.
As for you, my young friends, I urge you to strive for virtue, for without it friendship cannot exist. And friendship, aside from virtue, is the greatest thing we can find in life.
So let this be the first and sacred law of friendship: seek only the good from friends, do only good for the sake of friends – and don’t wait to be asked! Be always attentive! Banish hesitation! Be ready to give advice freely! Take seriously the good advice of friends. Be ready to offer it openly, even forcefully, if the occasion demands – and also be ready to follow when it’s been offered.
We don’t practise generosity in order to secure gratitude, nor do we invest our gifts in the hope of a favourable return. Rather, it is nature that inclines us towards generosity. Just so, we don’t seek friendship with an expectation of gain, but regard the feeling of love as its own reward.
As for the person who is not impelled to give thanks for the procession of the stars, the alternation of day and night, the regular succession of the seasons, and the fruits which are produced for our enjoyment – how can such a person be counted as human at all?
My conscience has more weight for me than the opinion of the whole world.
There is no people so brutish or barbarous that they do not know that they must believe in a god, even if they do not know precisely what god they should worship.
Utinam tam facile vera invenire possim quam falsa convincere.
The course of life cannot change. Nature has but a single path and you travel it only once. Each stage of life has its own appropriate qualities – weakness in childhood, boldness in youth, seriousness in middle age, and maturity in old age. These are fruits that must be harvested in due season.