“Our span of life is brief, but is long enough for us to live well and honestly.”

Old age: the crown of life, our play’s last act.

When you are aspiring to the highest place, it is honorable to reach the second or even the third rank.

Politicians are not born; they are excreted.

A mental stain can neither be blotted out by the passage of time nor washed away by any waters.

In times of war, the law falls silent.

A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation.

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.

What can be more delightful than to have some one to whom you can say everything with the same absolute confidence as to yourself?

Life is nothing without friendship.

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.

The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.

Your enemies can kill you, but only your friends can hurt you.

To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare one’s self to die.

No power on earth, if it labours beneath the burden of fear, can possibly be strong enough to survive.

He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason.

To teach is a necessity, to please is a sweetness, to persuade is a victory.

An insult directed at the wicked is not to be censured; on the contrary, the honest man, if he has sense, can only applaud.

Does it seem that everything is extravagance in the world, or rather madness, when you watch the way things go? A crowd of rogues enjoy blessings they have won by sheer injustice, while more honest folks are miserable and die of hunger.

Be honest, brutally honest. That is what’s going to maintain relationships.

No man is really honest; none of us is above the influence of gain.

I think, as musicians, our music should be who we are. Sometimes it’s not – it’s someone else’s. All heartfelt music and all honest music, it’s who we are. Of course, our upbringing has everything to do with it.

A sound head, an honest heart, and an humble spirit are the three best guides through time and to eternity.

When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are.

Richard Pryor is, in my mind, the most honest comedian. He bared his soul to people. I think that’s why everybody loved him so much.