“What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.”

He who seeks wisdom is a wise man; he who thinks he has found it is mad.

Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.

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

He who asks with timidity invites a refusal.

You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire.

No man is free who is a slave to the flesh.

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

It is not goodness to be better than the worst.

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

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

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

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

Be not dazzled by beauty, but look for those inward qualities which are lasting.

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

To wish to be well is a part of becoming well.

Regard a friend as loyal, and you will make him loyal.

For you was I born, for you do I have life, for you will I die, for you am I now dying.

Do not let your life, ministry or organization go faster than your resources.

If anyone tries to complicate your life, turn and walk away from them.

Feeling compassion for ourselves in no way releases us from responsibility for our actions. Rather, it releases us from the self-hatred that prevents us from responding to our life with clarity and balance.

Confront a corpse at least once. The absolute absence of life is the most disturbing and challenging confrontation you will ever have.

Most days are not overwhelmingly successful in your life. And what really marks whether you’re going to be successful is how well you deal with the bad days, not how well you deal with the good ones.

In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity or you can pick yourself up and say listen, I have to be responsible for myself.

The surest sign that you’re working with the life-affirming kind of discipline, rather than the spirit-depressing kind, is that you don’t complain very much about doing what it takes.