I think it is boundless stupidity not to choose the best as a model.
This is given by nature: nothing increases love for a man like the fear of losing him.
Truly noble is he who easily forgives people's faults, and at the same time is so afraid of doing something wrong, as if he had never forgiven anyone.
The unhappy speak one way, the happy another.
The easier a goal is to reach, the weaker the drive towards it.
For us sincerity means no less than necessity means for others.
Honesty offends people when it is harmful to them, then they are enthusiastic about it and glorify it.
Shame restrains an honest soul, and the scoundrel hardens in his insensibility.
Clean ones do not become bad if bad people approach them; they are generally the domain of the good.
Do not the unexpected lightning-like illuminations that occur in our soul and mind point to divinity?
He who does not make up his mind to get something for fear of losing it is reckless and lacking in will.
To submit to him who by law has been placed above you, even if he lacks power and fame, is a noble and useful art.
God is the hope of the brave and not the justification of the coward.
The rich and the kings who honor philosophy also honor themselves, but the philosophers who are servants to the rich do not increase their fame either, but lose what is left of their honor.
More praiseworthy is a soul constitution whose bad qualities fade with the passage of time, and the beautiful ones flourish.
In the favors bestowed by fate we like acquisition and use, and in the favors due to virtue we like deeds. The first ones we want to receive from others, the others we prefer to give to others.
The greatest merit of philosophy is the chiselling of the primitive cruelty of human morals.
War is an evil; he rests on great injustices and violence, but for honest men there are laws even in times of war. It is not permissible to chase after victory when the gains it brings with it will be gained through infamy and murder. A great commander must fight a war based on his own courage, and not on the betrayal of duty by others.
Any democracy is suspicious and has prejudices about political people, because if useful decisions were made without arguments and without conflicts, the suspicion of a prior plot is born.
Any mistake is bad, but where passion also intervenes, the mistake is doubly bad.
Ultimate anger breaks out when through anger you want to suppress anger.
To speak we learn from men, to be silent, from the gods.
Despotism arises from the people themselves: when their feet are shackled, they cannot do otherwise than if a chain is also hung around their necks.
If you enjoy the other's pain, it is a sign of malicious joy.
The best horses come from the wildest foals, they just need to be educated and ridden properly; humans are no exception to this rule.
Personal example is more effective than abstract rules.
Before pouring wine or oil into an old vessel, it is good to check it with water. The same with the wife, so that you don't have problems with her limbo, it's not bad to check how she keeps a secret, telling her a made-up gossip on the spot.
As the division of the hand into fingers did not weaken it, but, on the contrary, made it more dexterous and fit for use, so the ruler, involving others also in the cares of the state, will have great success with the help joint efforts.
When the painter paints a lovely, charming face, we ask him, if there is any slight natural defect, not to suppress it altogether, but not to bring it out too carefully either: for in in the second case the beauty is lost, and in the first, the likeness. In the same way, since it is difficult or simply impossible to represent human life impeccably clean, then, in painting all that is wonderful, you must respect the truth in its entirety. And the mistakes and defects that appear in the actions of the man under the influence of passion or as a result of state necessities must be seen rather as manifestations of imperfection in virtue than as depravity, and in the course of the story we must not stop with excessive pleasure and in the form thoroughly upon them, but being ashamed of human nature, since it does not produce characters without blemish and blameless in virtue.
He who does not feed the fire - extinguishes it. So does he who does not feed, from the beginning, the angry impulse, does not increase it, stifles it and removes it from himself.