One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.

The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary.

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

It is quality rather than quantity that matters.

True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.

Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.

A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.

A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.

A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.

He who is brave is free.

As long as you live, keep learning how to live.

All cruelty springs from weakness.

No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.

Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

If you wished to be loved, love.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.

For greed all nature is too little.

Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wind and the rain and the thunder in the sky. Life is matter and is earth, what is and what is not, and what beyond is in Eternity.

The way is long if one follows precepts, but short... if one follows patterns.

Life, if well lived, is long enough.

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk.

Love in its essence is spiritual fire.

Nothing is so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness is it to be expecting evil before it comes.

All art is but imitation of nature.

Poverty wants some, luxury many, and avarice all things.

No one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied to.

It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.

Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.

Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.

Those who boast of their descent, brag on what they owe to others.

No man was ever wise by chance.

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

Ignorant people see life as either existence or non-existence, but wise men see it beyond both existence and non-existence to something that transcends them both; this is an observation of the Middle Way.

The heart is great which shows moderation in the midst of prosperity.

Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

He who has great power should use it lightly.

Where fear is, happiness is not.

You must live for another if you wish to live for yourself.

Night brings our troubles to the light, rather than banishes them.

We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered today? what passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.

The wish for healing has always been half of health.

Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.

Modesty forbids what the law does not.

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.

While we are postponing, life speeds by.

It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.

Every guilty person is his own hangman.