“Everything rises but to fall, and increases but to decay.”

The man who is roused neither by glory nor by danger it is in vain to exhort; terror closes the ears of the mind.

But assuredly Fortune rules in all things; she raised to eminence or buries in oblivion everything from caprice rather than from well-regulated principle.

To like and dislike the same things that is indeed true friendship.

To have the same desires and the same aversion is assuredly a firm bond of friendship.

Get good counsel before you begin; and when you have decided, act promptly.

Ambition drove many men to become false; to have one thought locked in the breast, another ready on the tongue.

It is sweet to surve one country by deeds, and it is not absurd to surve her by words.

Enough words, little wisdom.

Everything that rises sets, and everything that grows, grows old.

To someone seeking power, the poorest man is the most useful.

No grief reaches the dead.

By union the smallest states thrive. By discord the greatest are destroyed.

Just to stir things up seemed a great reward in itself.

All who consult on doubtful matters, should be void of hatred, friendship, anger, and pity.

When the prizes fall to the lot of the wicked, you will not find many who are virtuous for virtue’s sake.

By the wicked the good conduct of others is always dreaded.