Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.

The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.

My life is my message. 

Screw it, let’s do it.

Boldness be my friend.

My life is my argument.

Dream big. Pray bigger.

Fight till the last gasp.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

You can if you think you can.

Whatever you are, be a good one.

The past does not equal the future.

Forget about style; worry about results.

Every noble work is at first impossible.

Whatever you do, do with all your might.

Throw away your books; stop letting yourself be distracted.

The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like that.

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”

Don’t be overheard complaining… Not even to yourself.

Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind.

Very little is needed for everything to be upset and ruined, only a slight lapse in reason.

You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.

Yes, you can – if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.

Remember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don’t try pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don’t let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes.

Labor willingly and diligently, undistracted and aware of the common interest.

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

We are twice armed if we fight with faith.

The wisest mind has something yet to learn.

Open your mind. Get up off the couch. Move.

Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Take a moment before reacting, and you will find it is easier to maintain control.

When you have been compelled by circumstances to be disturbed in a manner, quickly return to yourself and do not continue out of tune longer than the compulsion lasts.

In whatever I do, either by myself or with another, I must direct my energies to this alone, that it shall conduce to the common interest and be in harmony with it.

The mind that is free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly for refuge and repel every attack.

We should discipline ourselves in small things, and from there progress to things of greater value. If you have a headache, practise not cursing. Don’t curse every time you have an earache. And I’m not saying that you can’t complain, only don’t complain with your whole being.

Look not round at the depraved morals of others, but run straight along the line without deviating from it.

From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness.

Abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich. 

The recognition that I needed to train and discipline my character. 

To read attentively – not to be satisfied with ‘just getting the gist of it’. And not to fall for every smooth talker.

Be faithful to that which exists within yourself.

Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable.

In life you need either inspiration or desperation.

I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees. The true success is the person who invented himself.

Self-control and resistance to distractions. 

Doing your job, without whining. 

Not to busy myself about trifling things. 

The sense he gave of ‘staying’ on the path rather than being ‘kept’ on it.

When you’re called upon to speak, then speak, but never about banalities like gladiators, horses, sports, food and drink – common-place stuff. Above all don’t gossip about people, praising, blaming or comparing them.

Drunkenness inflames and lays bare every vice, removing the reserve that acts as a chuck on impulses to wrong behaviour.

You are composed of three things: body, breath (life), intelligence. Of these the first two are yours insofar as it is your duty to take care of them; but the third alone is truly yours.