Cognition

Let death and exile and every other thing which appears dreadful be daily before your eyes; but most of all death: and you will never think of…

We may learn the wish (will) of nature from the things in which we do not differ from one another: for instance, when your neighbor’s slave has…

Duties are universally measured by relations ([Greek: tais schsesi]). Is a man a father? The precept is to take care of him, to yield to him in all…

Avoid banquets which are given by strangers and by ignorant persons. But if ever there is occasion to join in them, let your attention be carefully…

If you have received the impression ([Greek: phantasion]) of any pleasure, guard yourself against being carried away by it; but let the thing wait…

When you have decided that a thing ought to be done, and are doing it, never avoid being seen doing it, though the many shall form an unfavorable…

It is a mark of a mean capacity to spend much time on the things which concern the body, such as much exercise, much eating, much drinking, much…

When any person treats you ill or speaks ill of you, remember that he does this or says this because he thinks that it is his duty. It is not…

Does a man bathe quickly (early)? do not say that he bathes badly, but that he bathes quickly. Does a man drink much wine? do not say that he does…

In civil and domestic affairs, a wise man may stand in need of counsel, as of a physician, an advocate, a solicitor; but in greater matters, the…

When we come once to value our flesh above our honesty we are lost: and yet I would not press upon dangers, no, not so much as upon inconveniences,…

There seems to be so near an affinity betwixt _wisdom_, _philosophy_, and _good counsels_, that it is rather matter of curiosity than of profit to…

Provided that we look to our consciences, no matter for opinion: let me deserve well, though I hear ill. The common people take stomach and…

Alexander took Babylon, Scipio took Carthage, the capitol was burnt; but there is no fire or violence that can discompose a generous mind; and let us…

Now, to sum up what is already delivered, we have showed what happiness is, and wherein it consists: that it is founded upon wisdom and virtue; for…

Levity of mind is a great hindrance of repose, and the very change of wickedness is an addition to the wickedness itself; for it is inconstancy added…

A man may as well wonder that he should be cold in winter, sick at sea, or have his bones clatter together in a wagon, as at the encounter of ill…

Nor was it any instinct of virtue that pushed on Marius, who at the head of an army was himself led on under the command of ambition: but he came…

No man can be said to be perfectly happy that runs the risk of disappointment: which is the case of every man that _fears_ or _hopes_ for anything.…

The piety and moderation of Scipio have made his memory more venerable than his arms; and more yet after he left his country than while he defended…

We cannot close up this chapter with a more generous instance of moderation than that of Fabricius. Pyrrhus tempted him with a sum of money to betray…

It is an error to attribute either _good_ or _ill_ to _Fortune_; but the _matter_ of it we may; and we ourselves are the occasion of it, being in…

Some are of opinion that death gives a man courage to support pain, and that pain fortifies a man against death: but I say rather, that a wise man…

Of all felicities, the most charming is that of a _firm_ and _gentle friendship_. It sweetens all our cares, dispels our sorrows, and counsels us…

It goes a great way toward the making of a man faithful, to let him understand that you think him so: and he that does but so much as suspect that…

But let us have a care, above all things, that our kindness be rightfully founded; for where there is any other invitation to friendship than the…

It is usual with princes to reproach the living by commending the dead, and to praise those people for speaking truth from whom there is no longer…

Xerxes, (a vain and a foolish prince) when he made war upon Greece, one told him, “It would never come to a battle”;another, “That he would find only…

The calamities of human nature may be divided into the _fear of death_, and the _miseries and errors of life_. And it is the great work of mankind to…

How vain a thing is it for us to enter upon projects, and to say to ourselves, “Well, I will go build, purchase, discharge such offices, settle my…

That which we call _death_ is but a pause or suspension; and, in truth, a progress to life, only our thoughts look downward upon the body, and not…

That good old man Bassus, (though with one foot in the grave,) how cheerful a mind does he bear. He lives in the view of death, and contemplates…

Next to the encounter of death in our own bodies, the most sensible calamity to an honest man is the death of a friend; and we are not in truth…

What can be happier than the condition both of mind and of fortune from which we cannot fall—what can be a greater felicity than in a covetous,…

We are here to encounter the most outrageous, brutal, dangerous, and intractable of all passions; the most loathsome and unmannerly; nay, the most…

The _Stoics_ will have _anger_ to be a “desire of punishing another for some injury done.” Against which it is objected, that we are many times angry…

The question will be here, whether _anger_ takes its rise from impulse or judgment; that is, whether it be moved of its own accord, or, as many other…

There is no doubt but anger is moved by the species of an injury; but whether that motion be voluntary or involuntary is the point in debate;…

In all these cases the mind rather suffers than acts, and therefore it is not an affection _to be moved_, but _to give way_ to that motion, and to…

It is an idle thing to pretend that we cannot govern our _anger_; for some things that we do are much harder than others that we ought to do; the…

Another instance of anger suppressed, we have in Harpagus, who was commanded to expose Cyrus upon a mountain. But the child was preserved; which,…

In the first place, Anger is _unwarrantable_ as it is _unjust_: for it falls many times upon the wrong person, and discharges itself upon the…

But “may not an honest man then be allowed to be angry at the murder of his father, or the ravishing of his sister or daughter before his face?” No,…

A man may be temperate, and yet vigorous, and raise his mind according to the occasion, more or less, as a stone is thrown according to the…

But it is a great error to take this passion either for a companion or for an assistant to virtue; that makes a man incapable of those necessary…

When men’s minds are struck with the opinion of an injury, they fall on immediately wheresoever their passion leads them, without either order, fear,…

The malevolent and the envious content themselves only to _wish_ another man miserable; but it is the business of anger to _make_ him so, and to…

The humanity and excellence of this virtue is confessed at all hands, as well by the men of _pleasure_, and those that think every man was made for…

But as the faults of great men are not presently punished with thunder from above, let them have a like regard to their inferiors here upon earth. He…

It is not flattery that calls a prince _the father of his country_; the titles of _great_ and _august_ are matter of compliment and of honor; but…

When Burrhus the prefect was to sentence two malefactors, he brought the warrant to Nero to sign; who, after a long reluctancy came to it at last…

Although he was justly had in admiration on this account, yet his family was not surnamed from him, but from his son Eurypon (of whom they were…

Indeed, whosoever shall look at the sedition and misgovernment which befell these bordering nations to whom they were as near related in blood as…

Lycurgus would never reduce his laws into writing; nay, there is a Rhetra expressly to forbid it. For he thought that the most material points, and…

For, indeed, before they engaged in battle, the king first did sacrifice to the Muses, in all likelihood to put them in mind of the manner of their…

Valerius Antias writes that the books which were buried in the aforesaid chest or coffin of stone were twelve volumes of holy writ and twelve…

First, then, he repealed all Draco's laws, except those concerning homicide, because they were too severe, and the punishments too great; for death…

Another commendable law of Solon's is that which forbids men to speak evil of the dead; for it is pious to think the deceased sacred, and just, not…

He resolved to render the government, as well as himself, instead of terrible, familiar and pleasant to the people, and parted the axes from the rods…

When the contingents met here, the Greeks would have the Lacedaemonians to command, and Eurybiades to be their admiral; but the Athenians, who…