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Monsters
“What we call monsters are not so to God, who sees in the immensity of his work the infinity of forms that he has comprised in it; and it is for us to believe that this figure that astonishes us is related and linked to some other figure of the same kind unknown to man.”…
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To depart a better man
“If we must, let us study something suitable to our condition, so that we may answer like the man who, when he was asked what was the purpose of these studies in decrepitude, replied: ‘To depart a better man and more content.’” II.29 “All things have their season” (p. 646)
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Of fortune
“Fortune, I know not how, makes a game of taking us at our word.” II.25 “Not to counterfeit being sick” (p. 633)
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On melancholy
“For my part I indeed imagine that there is design, consent, and pleasure in feeding one’s melancholy” II. 20 “We taste nothing pure” (p.620)
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What is most urgent
“A starving man would be very foolish to try and provide himself with a fine garment rather than with a good meal: we must run to what is most urgent.” II.16 “Of glory” (569)
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The enjoyment of life
“The enjoyment of life cannot be truly pleasant to us if we are in fear of losing it.” II.15 “That our desire is increased by difficulty” (p. 563)
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Evil means to a good end
“However, the weakness of our condition often pushes us to the necessity of using evil means to a good end.” II. 23 “Of evil means employed to a good end” (p. 629)
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No good thing is exempt from some mixture of pain and discomfort
“The weakness of our condition makes it impossible for things to come into our experience in their natural simplicity and purity […] Of the pleasures and good things that we have, there is not one exempt from some mixture of pain and discomfort.” II. 20 “We taste nothing pure” (p. 619)
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Cowardice, mother of cruelty
“I have often heard it said that cowardice is the mother of cruelty… I have observed that some of the most cruel are subject weeping easily and for frivolous reasons.” II. 27 “Cowardice mother of cruelty” (p. 635)
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What we call monsters
“What we call monsters are not so to God, who sees in the immensity of his work the infinity of forms that he has comprised in it…From his infinite wisdom there proceeds nothing but that is good and ordinary and regular…We call contrary to nature what happens contrary to custom; nothing is anything but according…