Great Throughts Treasury

"Amiability shines by its own light."

"Anger is a momentary madness, so control your passion or it will control you."

"Anger is short madness."

"As a wise man in time of peace prepares for war."

"As wealth grows, care and greed for greater wealth follows after."

"Dare to be wise."

"Envy is not to be conquered but by death."

"Govern your passions or otherwise they will govern you."

"He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin!"

"He who will not curb his passion, will wish that undone which his grief and resentment suggested, while he violently plies his revenge with unsated rancor. Rage is a short madness. Rule your passion, which commands, if it do not obey; do not restrain it with a bridle, and with fetters."

"He will always be a slave who does not know how to live upon a little."

"Hidden worth differs little from buried indolence."

"Hold for yourself the belief that each day that dawns is your last."

"Hopeful in adversity, anxious in prosperity, is the heart prepared for weal and woe."

"Humble things become the humble."

"I endeavor to subdue circumstances to myself, and not myself to circumstances."

"In adversity remember to keep an even mind."

"In the midst of hopes and cares, of apprehensions and of disquietude, regard every day that dawns upon you as if it was to be your last; then super-added hours, to the enjoyment of which you had not looked forward, will prove an acceptable boon."

"It is right to yield to the truth."

"It is virtue, to fly vice; and the highest wisdom to have lived free from folly."

"Misfortunes display the skill of a general, prosperous circumstances conceal his weakness."

"Money is a handmaiden, if thou knowest how to use it; a mistress, if thou knowest not."

"Most virtue lies between two vices."

"My cares and my inquiries are for decency and truth, and in this I am wholly occupied."

"Never inquire into another man’s secret; but conceal that which is intrusted to you, though pressed both by wine and anger to reveal it."

"Never were you a body without a soul."

"No one is born without vices, and he is the best man who is encumbered with the least."

"Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled."

"Once begun, a task is easy; half the work is done."

"Riches either serve or govern the possessor."

"Seize the day! Put no trust in the morrow."

"The covetous man always wants."

"The hungry stomach rarely despises common food."

"The man who is tenacious of purpose in a rightful cause is not shaken from his firm resolve by the frenzy of his fellow citizens clamoring for what is wrong, or by the tyrant's threatening countenance."

"The tender mind is oft deterred from vice by another's shame."

"The more a man denies himself, the more he shall obtain from God."

"To flee from vice is the beginning of virtue."

"Too many promises lessen confidence."

"Unless the vessel is clean, whatever you pour into it turns sour."

"Virtue consists in avoiding vice, and is the highest wisdom."

"Virtue is a mean between vices, remote from both extremes."

"We are but dust and shadow."

"We hate virtue when it is safe; when removed from our sight we diligently seek it."

"What’s well begun, is half done."

"What cannot be removed, becomes lighter through patience."

"When we try to avoid one fault, we are led to the opposite, unless we be very careful."

"Who then is free? The wise man who can govern himself."

"Who trust in himself will lead and rule the swarm."

"You traverse the world in search of happiness, which is within the reach of every man; a contented mind confers it on all."

"Your own property is concerned when your neighbor’s house is on fire."