“Desire nothing for yourself, which you do not desire for others.”

Nature has no goal in view, and final causes are only human imaginings.

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.

I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion.

Pride is pleasure arising from a man’s thinking too highly of himself.

The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.

What Paul says about Peter tells us more about Paul than about Peter.

Freedom is absolutely necessary for the progress in science and the liberal arts.

Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.

He who seeks equality between unequals seeks an absurdity.

The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure, you are above everything distressing.

All happiness or unhappiness solely depends upon the quality of the object to which we are attached by love.

Peace is not the absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition of benevolence, confidence, justice.

Men are mistaken in thinking themselves free; their opinion is made up of consciousness of their own actions, and ignorance of the causes by which they are determined.

Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many.

In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth.

Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words.

He didn’t desire her. Maybe that’s why she deserved him.

By desiring little, a poor man makes himself rich.

Anyone who has any kind of capacity to truly let go and give into yourself with any kind of desire to hold on for dear life.

It is hard to fight desire; but to control it is the sign of a reasonable man.

Never compromise on who you are. You are born with the capacity to achieve greatness if you so desire.

We often neglect what we desire, and just follow the rules and norms which the world dictates.

Good means not [merely] not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.

A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires