"The greatest blessing granted to mankind come by way of madness, which is a divine gift."

"May the inward and outward man be as one."

"He is rich who is content with the least; for contentment is the wealth of nature."

"He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god."

"My friend...care for your psyche...know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves."

"Be as you wish to seem."

"No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable."

"He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god."

"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel."

"How many things can I do without?"

"Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of -- for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear."

"A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true."

"Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers."

"My friend...care for your psyche...know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves"

"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less."

"The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves."

"I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good."

"Give me beauty in the inward soul; may the outward and the inward man be at one."

"He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god."

"I did not care for the things that most people care about– making money, having a comfortable home, high military or civil rank, and all the other activities, political appointments, secret societies, party organizations, which go on in our city . . . I set myself to do you– each one of you, individually and in private– what I hold to be the greatest possible service. I tried to persuade each one of you to concern himself less with what he has than with what he is, so as to render himself as excellent and as rational as possible."