Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids. The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances. It concerns us to know the purposes we seek in life, for then, like archers aiming at a definate mark, we shall be more likely to attain what we want. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
Education is the best provision for old age.
Man is by nature a political animal. There was never a genius without a tincture of madness. Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods. Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.