A sensible man takes pleasure in what he has instead of pining for what he has not.

I would rather discover one cause than gain the kingdom of Persia.

Good means not [merely] not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.

There are two forms of knowledge, one genuine, one obscure. To the obscure belong all of the following: sight, hearing, smell, taste, feeling. The other form is the genuine, and is quite distinct from this. [And then distinguishing the genuine from the obscure, he continues:] Whenever the obscure [way of knowing] has reached the minimum sensibile of hearing, smell, taste, and touch, and when the investigation must be carried farther into that which is still finer, then arises the genuine way of knowing, which has a finer organ of thought.

In the weightiest matters we must go to school to the animals, and learn spinning and weaving from the spider, building from the swallow, singing from the birds,-from the swan and the nightingale, imitating their art.

Sweet exists by convention, bitter by convention, colour by convention; atoms and Void [alone] exist in reality.

One should emulate works and deeds of virtue, not arguments about it.

No power and no treasure can outweigh the extension of our knowledge.

The enmity of one's kindred is far more bitter than the enmity of strangers.

Not from fear but from a sense of duty refrain from your sins.

A life without a holiday is like a long journey without an inn to rest at.

Men have fashioned an image of Chance as an excuse for their own stupidity. For Chance rarely conflicts with intelligence, and most things in life can be set in order by an intelligent sharpsightedness.

There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.

Of practical wisdom these are the three fruits: to deliberate well, to speak to the point, to do what is right.

An evil and foolish and intemperate and irreligious life should not be called a bad life, but rather, dying long drawn out.

By convention sweet is sweet, bitter is bitter, hot is hot, cold is cold, color is color; but in truth there are only atoms and the void.

Strength of body is nobility in beasts of burden, strength of character is nobility in men.

Strength and beauty are the blessings of youth; temperance, however, is the flower of old age.

The friendship of one wise man is better than the friendship of a host of fools.

Repentance for one's evil deeds is the safeguard of life.

The pleasures that give most joy are the ones that most rarely come.

In a shared fish, there are no bones.

Fame and wealth without wisdom are unsafe possessions.

He who intends to enjoy life should not be busy about many things, and in what he does should not undertake what exceeds his natural capacity. On the contrary, he should have himself so in hand that even when fortune comes his way, and is apparently ready to lead him on to higher things, he should put her aside and not o'erreach his powers. For a being of moderate size is safer than one that bulks too big.

Fortune is lavish with her favors, but not to be depended on. Nature on the other hand is self-sufficing, and therefore with her feebler but trustworthy [resources] she wins the greater [meed] of hope.

We know nothing accurately in reality, but [only] as it changes according to the bodily condition, and the constitution of those things that flow upon [the body] and impinge upon it.

The hopes of the right-minded may be realized, those of fools are impossible.

And yet it will be obvious that it is difficult to really know of what sort each thing is.

No one deserves to live who has not at least one good-man-and-true for a friend.

Now his principal doctrines were these. That atoms and the vacuum were the beginning of the universe; and that everything else existed only in opinion. (trans. Yonge 1853) The first principles of the universe are atoms and empty space; everything else is merely thought to exist.

If I knew that it was fated for me to be sick, I would even wish for it; for the foot also, if it had intelligence, would volunteer to get muddy.

The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul.

We should infer in the case of a beautiful dwelling-place that it was built for its owners and not for mice; we ought, therefore, in the same way to regard the universe as the dwelling-place of the gods.

Living virtuously is equal to living in accordance with one's experience of the actual course of nature.

Wise people are in want of nothing, and yet need many things. On the other hand, nothing is needed by fools, for they do not understand how to use anything, but are in want of everything.

He who is running a race ought to endeavor and strive to the utmost of his ability to come off victor; but it is utterly wrong for him to trip up his competitor, or to push him aside. So in life it is not unfair for one to seek for himself what may accrue to his benefit; but it is not right to take it from another.

If I had followed the multitude, I should not have studied philosophy.

Nay, men, if any of you had heeded what I was ever foretelling and advising, ye would now neither be fearing a single man nor putting your hopes in a single man.

It is worth observing, how we feel ourselves affected in reading the characters of Cæsar, and Cato, as they are so finely drawn and contrasted in Salust. In one, the ignoscendo, largiundo; in the other, nil largiundo. In one, the miseris perfugium; in the other, malis perniciem. In the latter we have much to admire, much to reverence, and perhaps something to fear; we respect him, but we respect him at a distance. The former makes us familiar with him; we love him, and he leads us whither he pleases.

Bear in mind, that if through toil you accomplish a good deed, that toil will quickly pass from you, the good deed will not leave you so long as you live; but if through pleasure you do anything dishonourable, the pleasure will quickly pass away, that dishonourable act will remain with you for ever.

I will begin to speak when I am not going to say what were better left unsaid.

Ill repute is a good thing and much the same as pain.

It is better to fall in with crows than with flatterers; for in the one case you are devoured when dead, in the other case while alive.

Wealth and poverty do not lie in a person's estate, but in their souls.

It is better to fight with a few good men against all the wicked, than with many wicked men against a few good men.

Antisthenes ... was asked on one occasion what learning was the most necessary, and he replied, "To unlearn one's bad habits."

I have enough to eat till my hunger is stayed, to drink till my thirst is sated; to clothe myself withal; and out of doors not Callias there, with all his riches, is more safe than I from shivering; and when I find myself indoors, what warmer shirting do I need than my bare walls? what ampler greatcoat than the tiles above my head?

One should attend to one's enemies, for they are the first persons to detect one's errors.

When he was asked what advantage had accrued to him from philosophy, his answer was, "The ability to hold converse with myself."

There is no work so mean, but it would amply serve me to furnish me with sustenance.