The man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.

Often injustice lies in what you aren’t doing, not only in what you are doing.

If someone is incapable of distinguishing good things from bad and neutral things from either – well, how could such a person be capable of love? The power to love, then, belongs only to the wise man.

He often acts unjustly who does not do a certain thing; not only he who does a certain thing.

As it is with a play, so it is with life – what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is. It is not important at what point you stop. Stop wherever you will – only make sure that you round it off with a good ending.

Pleasures, when they go beyond a certain limit, are but punishments.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies come from that.

Things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; so our perturbations come only from our inner opinions.

If you lost the capacity to read, or play music, you would think it was a disaster, but you think nothing of losing the capacity to be honest, decent and civilized.

As you are careful when you walk not to step on a nail or turn your ankle, so you should take care not to do any injury to your character at the same time.

Don’t let outward appearances mislead you into thinking that someone with more prestige, power or some other distinction must on that account be happy.

Most of us dread the deadening of the body and will do anything to avoid it. About the deadening of the soul, however, we don’t care one iota.

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. 

I say that virtue is more valuable than wealth to the same degree that eyes are more valuable than fingernails.

Either you’re going to be depressed when your wish is not realized or foolishly pleased with yourself if it is, overjoyed for the wrong reasons.

A boxer derives the greatest advantage from his sparring partner – and my accuser is my sparring partner. He trains me in patience, civility and even temper.

When I see that one thing [virtue] is supreme and most important, I cannot say that something else is, just to make you happy.

No one objects to what is useful to him. To be of use to others is natural. Then don’t object to what is useful to you – being of use.

Your three components: body, breath, mind. Two are yours in trust; to the third alone you have clear title.

Whatever anyone does or says, I must be good, just as if the gold, or the emerald, or the purple were always saying this, whatever anyone does or says, I must be emerald and keep my color.

A thing is neither better nor worse for having been praised.

Death and life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure — all these things equally happen to good men and bad, being things which make us neither better nor worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil.

The mind in itself has no needs, except for those it creates itself. Is undisturbed, except for its own disturbances. Knows no obstructions, except those from within.