For me every virtuous foreigner is a Greek and every evil Greek worse than a Barbarian.

I have not sought during my life to amass wealth and to adorn my body, but I have sought to adorn my soul with the jewels of wisdom, patience, and above all with a love of liberty.

Charity bestowed upon those who are worthy of it is like good seed sown on a good soil that yields an abundance of fruits. But alms given to those who are yet under the tyrannical yoke of the passions are like seed deposited in a bad soil. The passions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it were, the growth of merits.

The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next.

The best means of forming a manly, virtuous, and happy people will be found in the right education of youth. Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion, must fail.

Virtuous people always let go. They don't prattle about pleasures and desires. Touched by happiness and then by suffering, The sage shows no sign of being elated or depressed.