“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.”

“Receive without conceit, release without struggle.”

“Which is recorded of Socrates, that he was able both to abstain from, and to enjoy, those things which many are too weak to abstain from, and cannot enjoy without excess. But to be strong enough both to bear the one and to be sober in the other is the mark of a man who has a perfect and invincible soul.”

“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.”

“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”

“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.”

“Observe the movements of the stars as if you were running their courses with them, and let your mind constantly dwell on the changes of the elements into each other. Such imaginings wash away the filth of life on the ground.”