Marcus Aurelius: “What kind of people are those whom men wish to please, and for what objects, and by what kind of acts?”

Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries.

That which is from fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with the things which are ordered by providence.

He was also easy in conversation, and he made himself agreeable without any offensive affectation.

He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive, and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of a man who could not be diverted from right, rather than of a man who had been improved.