And what will history say of me a thousand years hence?

All people have the common desire to be elevated in honor, but all people have something still more elevated in themselves without knowing it.

If fame is only to come after death, I am in no hurry for it.

Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury—to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.

Avoid the talk of men. For talk is mischievous, light, and easily raised, but hard to bear and difficult to be rid of. Talk never wholly dies away when many people voice her: even talk is in some ways divine.

Worldly fame is but a breath of wind that blows now this way, now that, and changes names as it changes in direction.