“Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.”

It is not difficult to avoid death, gentlemen of the jury; it is much more difficult to avoid wickedness, for it runs faster than death.

A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.

There is no greater evil one can suffer than to hate reasonable discourse.

Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart’s desire; the other is to get it.

To express oneself badly is not only faulty as far as the language goes, but does some harm to the soul.

Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.

The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.

A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time.

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.

It is better to change an opinion than to persist in a wrong one.

When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you want to breathe, it is then you shall have it.

Mankind is made of two kinds of people: wise people who know they’re fools, and fools who think they are wise.

Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively.