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There is nothing to which nature seems so much to have inclined us, as to society

We sought one another long before we met, and by the characters we heard of one another

Whereas in friendship, 'tis a general and universal fire, but temperate and equal, a constant established heat, all gentle and smooth, without poignancy or roughness.

The greatest thing in the world is for a man to know that he is his own.

Wherever the mind is perplexed, it is in an entire disorder, and domestic employments are not less troublesome for being less important.

A man should diffuse joy, but, as much as he can, smother grief.

It is doubtful whether a person could be a failure while engaged in work which he liked best.

TIME is a Master Worker that heals the wounds of temporary defeat; equalizes the inequalities, and rights the wrongs of the world. There is nothing ‘impossible’ with time!

When you do not know what to do or which way to turn, SMILE! This will relax your mind and let the sunshine of happiness into your soul.

Your fears must be mastered before you can win in any worthwhile undertaking in life.

Here we see how hurtful it is for a prince or commonwealth to keep the minds of their subjects in constant alarm and suspense by continually renewed punishments and violence.

Moreover men commonly deceive themselves in respect of the love which they imagine others bear them, nor can ever be sure of it until they have put it to the proof.

The prince, therefore, who would guard himself against plots, ought more to fear those men to whom he has been too indulgent, than those to whom he has done great wrongs.

a prince should entrust his friends with so much authority only as leaves a certain interval between his position and theirs

it must be from one man that it receives its institutions at first, and upon one man that all similar reconstruction must depend

there is no surer or more necessary restraint on the violence of an unruly multitude, than the presence of some one whose character and bearing command respect

A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.

It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.

Therefore it must be inferred that good counsels, whencesoever they come, are born of the wisdom of the prince, and not the wisdom of the prince from good counsels.

Therefore, if he who rules a principality cannot recognize evils until they are upon him, he is not truly wise; and this insight is given to few.

there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new

Every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice of life-energy.

But instinct is something which transcends knowledge.

True magnanimity consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge.