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To listen to ourselves
“The life of Caesar has no more to show us than our own; an emperor’s or an ordinary man’s, it is still a life subject to all human accidents. Let us only listen: we tell ourselves all we most need.” III.13 Of experience (p. 1001)
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No End to Research
“It is only personal weakness that makes us content with what others orourselves have found out in this hunt for knowledge. An abler man will not rest content with it. There is always room for a successor, yes, and for ourselves, and a road in another direction. There is no end to our researches; our…
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Pleasure and communication
“No pleasure has any savor for me without communication. Not even a merry thought comes to my mind without my being vexed at having produced it alone without anyone to offer it to.” III. 9 “Of vanity” (p. 917)
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Cling to your own judgment
“There is no one but yourself who knows whether you are cowardly and cruel, or loyal and devout. Others do not see you, they guess at you by uncertain conjectures; they see not so much your nature as your art. Therefore do not cling to their judgment; cling to your own.” III.2 “Of repentance” (p.743)
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Repentance
“God must touch our hearts. Our conscience must reform by itself through the strengthening of our reason, not through the weakening of our appetites.” III.2 “Of repentance” (p. 740)
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Capable, even in ignorance
“If a man is commonplace in conversation and rare in writing, that means that his capacity is in the place from which he borrows it, and not in himself. A learned man is not learned in all matters; but the capable man is capable in all matters, even in ignorance.” III.2 “Of repentance” (p. 741)
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To grow and to languish
“It is possible that in those who employ their time well, knowledge and experience grow with living; but vivacity, quickness, firmness, and other qualities much more our own, more important and essential, wither and languish.” I.57 (p. 289)
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Wisdom
“The surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness.” I.26 “Of the education of children” (p. 144)