“A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.”

“As fire tests gold, so misfortunate tests brave men.”

“As it is with a play, so it is with life - what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is.”

“Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.”

“Everything hangs on one’s thinking…a man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is.”

“Excess in anything becomes a fault.”

“Hang on to your youthful enthusiasms you’ll be able to use them better when you’re older.”

“He who fears death will never do anything worth of a man who is alive.”

“How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?”

“I do not know whether I shall make progress; but I should prefer to lack success rather than to lack faith.”