"It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other"
"It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral"
"Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience"
"Next to religion, let your care be to promote justice"
"Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing"
"For my name and memory I leave to men's charitable speeches, and to foreign nations and the next ages"
"Fashion is only the attempt to realize art in living forms and social intercourse"
"If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world"
"God's first creature, which was light"
"God has placed no limits to the exercise of the intellect he has given us, on this side of the grave"
"Friendship increases in visiting friends, but in visiting them seldom"
"A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion"
"A bachelor's life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner"
"Wise men make more opportunities than they find"
"Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read"
"Acorns were good until bread was found"
"There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer. For there is no such flatterer as is a man's self"
"There is a wisdom in this beyond the rules of physic: a man's own observation what he finds good of and what he finds hurt of is the best physic to preserve health"
"Who ever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul"
"When a man laughs at his troubles he loses a great many friends. They never forgive the loss of their prerogative"
"What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer"
"Studies serve for delight, for ornaments, and for ability"
"Studies perfect nature and are perfected still by experience"
"Seek ye first the good things of the mind, and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt"
"Science is but an image of the truth"
"Silence is the virtue of fools"
"The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses"
"The way of fortune is like the milkyway in the sky; which is a number of small stars, not seen asunder, but giving light together: so it is a number of little and scarce discerned virtues, or rather faculties and customs, that make men fortunate"
"The worst solitude is to have no real friendships"
"We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do"
"Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set"
"Rebellions of the belly are the worst"
"Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men"
"By indignities men come to dignities"
"But men must know, that in this theatre of man's life it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers on"
"Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the Infinite"
"As the births of living creatures are at first ill-shapen, so are all innovations, which are the births of time"
"Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion"
"Wives are young men's mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men's nurses"
"It is in life as it is in ways, the shortest way is commonly the foulest, and surely the fairer way is not much about"
"Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid"
"Discretion of speech is more than eloquence, and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words, or in good order"
"Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable"
"Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New"
"Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue"
"This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well"
"The joys of parents are secret, and so are their grieves and fears"
"Judges must beware of hard constructions and strained inferences, for there is no worse torture than that of laws"
"Good fame is like fire; when you have kindled you may easily preserve it; but if you extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again"
"Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business"
