“Man is so constituted that he then only excels other things when he knows himself.”

Nothing is miserable but what is thought so, and contrariwise, every estate is happy if he that bears it be content.

If there is a God, whence proceed so many evils? If there is no God, whence cometh any good?

If there is anything good about nobility it is that it enforces the necessity of avoiding degeneracy.

In every adversity of fortune, to have been happy is the most unhappy kind of misfortune.

The science of numbers ought to be preferred as an acquisition before all others, because of its necessity and because of the great secrets and other mysteries which there are in the properties of numbers. All sciences partake of it, and it has need of none.

He who has calmly reconciled his life to fate … can look fortune in the face.

No man can ever be secure until he has been forsaken by Fortune.

One’s virtue is all that one truly has, because it is not imperiled by the vicissitudes of fortune.

Nothing is miserable unless you think it so.

Music is part of us, and either ennobles or degrades our behavior.

All fortune is good fortune; for it either rewards, disciplines, amends, or punishes, and so is either useful or just.

Inconsistency is my very essence; it is the game I never cease to play as I turn my wheel in its ever changing circle, filled with joy as I bring the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top.

He who has calmly reconciled his life to fate, and set proud death beneath his feet, can look fortune in the face, unbending both to good and bad; his countenance unconquered.

And no renown can render you well-known: For if you think that fame can lengthen life By mortal famousness immortalized, The day will come that takes your fame as well, And there a second death for you awaits.

Give me Thy light, and fix my eyes on Thee!

In other living creatures the ignorance of themselves is nature, but in men it is a vice.

Excellence in art is largely the result of attention to minutiae, and–prayer.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them.

If you focus on success, you’ll have stress. But if you pursue excellence, success will be guaranteed.

Excellence isn’t an act, it’s a habit.

Set out to do three or four things this year with gusto and excellence, rather than doing a dozen things just sufficiently. Trust me on this.

Just keep taking the next step and keep having excellence in the ordinary.

All of the top achievers I know are life-long learners. Looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they’re not learning, they’re not growing and not moving toward excellence.