“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
“Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.”
“Restrict yourself to choice and refusal; and exercise them carefully, with discipline and detachment.”
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
“If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.”
“Make it your goal never to fail in your desires or experience things you would rather avoid; try never to err in impulse and repulsion; aim to be perfect also in the practice of attention and withholding judgment.”
“We should every night call ourselves to an account; What infirmity have I mastered today? What passions opposed? What temptation resisted? What virtue acquired? Our vices will abort of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.”
“If you choose, you are free; if you choose, you need blame no man—accuse no man. All things will be at once according to your mind and according to the Mind of God.”
“All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.”