“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.”
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
“What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.”
“Light griefs are loquacious, but the great are dumb.”
“I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment?”
“Remind thyself that he whom thou lovest is mortal — that what thou lovest is not thine own; it is given thee for the present, not irrevocably nor for ever, but even as a fig or a bunch of grapes at the appointed season of the year.”
“He who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
“It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled spirit, amid abundance.”
“People with a strong physical constitution can tolerate extremes of hot and cold; people of strong mental health can handle anger, grief, joy and the other emotions.”