You leave all your wealth to your children, to be carried on by your family, Only wisdom but inheritance is not given.
You have made the scoundrel your friend, and I pity it; The donkey will never be a camel!
You often forget the good, the mind only leads you to the bad.
Without thorns, you think you have no chance to bite into the sweet fruit?
You can make anyone your friend without effort, you just have to speak well of him when he is not present at the discussion about which there will be many people willing to tell him. The beginning of friendship is eased by praise, the beginning of enmity - by defamation.
The efforts of the doctor who do not heal the sick are useless and the philosophical talk which does not heal the sufferings of the soul is in vain.
If there is no law, be yourself a model to your subjects, and an indelible memory of your rule will be preserved.
Among those who are near you, do not reward those who, whatever you do, praise you, but those who rebuke you harshly for your mistakes.
Do not be lazy and read the old books, because in them you will easily find what their authors have learned through their life experience, and you will understand everything.
The one who gets angry does not sin as much as the one who caused the anger.
From the lassitude produced by the wine, the mind becomes like a foolish stableman who cannot turn the cart: he thrashes about, pulls his horse to and fro, makes himself a laughing stock in front of everyone; thus, he who suffers from wine must always drink, and his soul sins.
To preserve your rule in virtue, never do what you forbid others to do: it is evil for the subjects to learn of the iniquities of power.
In the earthly shelter we live without a roof; Misfortunes without number fell like rain. Mistakes to regret? See for yourself: They are equal in number to the grains of sand under your feet. Because no ruler is pleasing to the people, not even the one who directs them to good. The prince rules over an ocean of slaves, But he himself is the slave of his passions. The possible is sometimes unattainable, What is simple for one, has defeated another. And everything that happens seems to us to be the same, With everything the world has known since forever. And the good gets the one who knows how to keep his tongue in his mouth when drunk. What's good fades, and what's bad is in bloom, Falsehood keeps us a festive speech. Life arouses fear, and people, as in a dream, it seems, That they fly in a rush on the spine of fear.
"Long live us!" my friends assure me, But how happy they would be if I died. Neighbors like a stranger often hurt you. And let temperance be the firm shield that guards you. The one with the white face is black in his soul Oh, people are like crows on a heap of grain!
As the wave is attracted by the rocky shore, So is the mortal, by the foolish gesture. And how can we be freed from passion When precisely it, for centuries, subjects us? If the Lord were to judge people according to their deed, not even the scoundrel would escape the reward.
When reason darkens sadness, She seeks relief in fantasies. When you look at the living world on earth - How many people there are, so many customs. When you are lazy, you breathe hypocrisy, Friends are brought to you on a plate.
The wings of science alienated me from men, I saw that men are like dust. For many, the meaning of life is shown by the grave, and I was exhausted by the love of life.
With great effort we do good, Instead, we don't even see the misery. Our souls were once pure, But gold over time has tarnished them. Don't believe in everything people say, Because lies lie in words that poison.
An ignoramus came to us, to teach us, But from infancy we feared them. Untruth rules the world from the beginning of days And punishes the wisest of men with fury.
Never envy those chosen by fate. Their lives are not endless and we all depend on chance. O man, you are small and weak, You are the scrawny slave of gluttonous flesh. Oh, if the glutton who bends over the spring, Could see in time the death that winds in it!
Knowledge is of no use to you, and the mind is a heavy burden, recklessness is more common in our time. Give to the one who asks, even the last coin; Everything you put aside is scattered to the wind. From now on my thoughts will remain hidden, Not to frighten my own with them.
The prophets died, but fragments of what they said still drip into our souls, even if they are heard more and more faintly.
Let the old man be poor. It's life, it seems, fair; And lions never feed their cubs. Giving birth to them, we give the children to the hand of death, Their disobedience is our just reward.
I among liars have become a hypocrite, How tired I am of this world!
Beg fate: "Let's be friends!" And suddenly he shows you the back of his head.
Sons of Adam, how foolishly you live! And in love, and in hate, you lie.
This is how the world is made: when one comes home, Another is called to go out.
I once put a ring in the muzzle of a golden calf, Now I understand: silence is golden.
You are looking for profit, what do you see as profit? Your prudence - a pledge of death.
You want to cure the man of evil grips, Do not try, there is no cure in the world to remove them.