Virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each of us in all that we do.

Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed.

Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action.

All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, with us, to sensibility, because in no other way can an object be given to us.

The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give everyone else his due.

There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

What difference is there between us, save a restless dream that follows my soul but fears to come near you?

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.

Misfortune seldom intrudes upon the wise man; his greatest and highest interests are directed by reason throughout the course of life.

We become just by performing just action, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave action.

The word ‚good‘ has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.

In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.

The false is nothing but an imitation of the true.

Man is made to adore and to obey: but if you will not command him, if you give him nothing to worship, he will fashion his own divinities, and find a chieftain in his own passions.

All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue.

When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

Morality is a private and costly luxury.

Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.

If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature’s way.

Man is a universe within himself.

The universe may have a purpose, but nothing we know suggests that, if so, this purpose has any similarity to ours.

Man was made at the end of the week’s work, when God was tired.

What we live by we die by.

A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes.

There is no such thing as Something for nothing.

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.

The rulers of the state are the only persons who ought to have the privilege of lying, either at home or abroad; they may be allowed to lie for the good of the state.

The important question is not, what will yield to man a few scattered pleasures, but what will render his life happy on the whole amount.

It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.

Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.

To terrify children with the image of hell… to consider women an inferior creation. Is that good for the world?

I have just got a new theory of eternity.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.

Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.

A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.

Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.

Are creeds such simple things like the clothes which a man can change at will and put on at will? Creeds are such for which people live for ages and ages.

If the Great Way perishes there will morality and duty. When cleverness and knowledge arise great lies will flourish. When relatives fall out with one another there will be filial duty and love. When states are in confusion there will be faithful servants.

The safest course is to do nothing against one’s conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.

Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.

In my view, the only thing worse than a rock star is a rock star with a conscience.

If you do things, whether it’s acting or music or painting, do it without fear – that’s my philosophy. Because nobody can arrest you and put you in jail if you paint badly, so there’s nothing to lose.

We’re all of us guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress.

Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars – mere globs of gas atoms. I, too, can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more?

Crime when it succeeds is called virtue.

Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many.

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

We are sinful not only because we have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, but also because we have not yet eaten of the Tree of Life. The state in which we are is sinful, irrespective of guilt.

Nothing is worth doing unless the consequences may be serious.

The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am afraid he is an attorney.

Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart.

Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

Regarding life, the wisest men of all ages have judged alike: it is worthless.

Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough.

And whether you’re an honest man, or whether you’re a thief, depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief.