When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.
What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.
What difference is there, do you think, between those in Plato's cave who can only marvel at the shadows and images of various objects, provided they are content and don't know what they miss, and the philosopher who has emerged from the cave and sees the real things?
War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.
Time takes away the grief of men.
There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.
The nearer people approach old age the closer they return to a semblance of childhood, until the time comes for them to depart this life, again like children, neither tired of living nor aware of death.
The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.
Your library is your paradise.
The entire world is my temple, and a very fine one too, if I'm not mistaken, and I'll never lack priests to serve it as long as there are men.
The desire to write grows with writing.
Man's mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth.
Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance; but revelry is the same flower, when rank and running to seed.
Nature, more of a stepmother than a mother in several ways, has sown a seed of evil in the hearts of mortals, especially in the more thoughtful men, which makes them dissatisfied with their own lot and envious of another s.
Prevention is better than cure.