"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."

"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."

"He is rich who is content with the least; for contentment is the wealth of nature."

"From the deepest desires often comes the deadliest hate."

"Be of good cheer about death, and know this of a truth, that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death."

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

"An unconsidered life is not one worth living."

"To find yourself, think for yourself."

"Do not trouble about those who practice philosophy, whether they are good or bad; but examine the thing itself well and carefully. And if philosophy appears a bad thing to you, turn every man from it, not only your sons; but if it appears to you such as I think it to be, take courage, pursue it, and practice it, as the saying is, 'both you and your house."

"Nobody is qualified to become a statesman who is entirely ignorant of the problem of wheat."

"To be is to do."

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."