Of all things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.
A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs…
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.
I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know they do not approve, and what they approve I do not know.
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
