Quote
1558·Padua, Italy
I found that a strict and regular life is the true way to conquer nature, and that the proverb which says that nature is so powerful is in part false.
It is certain that habit eventually has such power over human nature that it becomes, as it were, a second nature, and forces it to practise that to which it has become accustomed, regardless of whether or not it is good for health.
O wretched, miserable life! O unhappy temperament! To think that I, a man of sense, should have allowed myself to be brought to such a state by sensuality! Not to mention the pains in my stomach, my sides, and other parts of my body.
Francis Bacon·1625Age appears to be best in four things: old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.
Cicero·45 BCTherefore, young people seem to me to die in such a way that they are overwhelmed by the force of flames when faced with a multitude of waters, while old people die in a manner akin to a fire that is extinguished without any force applied to it; and just as unripe fruit is hardly plucked from trees, but ripe and cooked fruit falls off, so the force takes life from the young, while maturity takes it from the old; which indeed seems to me so pleasant that, the closer I get to death, I feel as if I am about to see land and eventually arrive in port after a long voyage.
William James·1895Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.
