"If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, 'He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone…"

"If you want to be rich, do not add to your possessions but subtract from your desires."

"If you wish for nothing, you will be free."

"Consider at what price you sell your integrity; but do not sell it for a small price."

"If a man has a bad smell, he is not to blame for it, but his clothes. If a man is ill, he is not to blame for it, but his body. If a man is a fool, he is not to blame for it, but his mind."