Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood.

Blow, blow, thou winter wind<br /> Thou art not so unkind,<br /> As man's ingratitude.

Be great in act, as you have been in thought.

Assume a virtue, if you have it not.

And since you know you cannot see yourself,<br /> so well as by reflection, I, your glass,<br /> will modestly discover to yourself,<br /> that of yourself...

Action is eloquence.

When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

But already it is time to depart, for me to die, for you to go on living; which of us takes the better course, is concealed from anyone except God.

Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing.

Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblances to...

When desire, having rejected reason and overpowered judgment which leads to right, is set in the direction of the pleasure which beauty can inspire . . .

I was afraid that by observing objects with my eyes and trying to comprehend them with each of my other senses I might blind my soul altogether.

To find yourself, think for yourself.

If a rich man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.

The qualities which a man seeks in his beloved are those characteristics of his own soul, whether he knows it or not.

The unexamined life is not worth living to a human.

He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.

The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him.

Wind buffs up empty bladders; opinion, fools.