Do not carry a spirit of contradiction, for it is to be freighted with stupidity and with peevishness, and your intelligence should plot against it; though it may well be the mark of mental genius...

Begin with another’s to end with your own.

At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty a nothing at all.

Rivalry discovers that courtesy overlooks.

I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.

Mediocrity obtains more with application than superiority without it

The pillow is a silent Sibyl, and it is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards

Evil report carries further than any applause

For a thing to remain undone nothing more is needed than to think of it done

Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.

Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.

To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.

The path to greatness is along with others.

Fortunate people often have very favorable beginnings and very tragic endings. What matters isn’t being applauded when you arrive – for that is common – but being missed when you leave.

The wise does at once what the fool does at last.

Mix a little mystery with everything, for mystery arouses veneration.

Like love, courage is no joking matter. If it yields once, it will have to yield again, and again. The same difficulty will have to be conquered later on, and it would have been better...

There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.

It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck, even while waiting for it

The truest wild beasts live in the most populous places

Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.