God, Nature, the wise, the world, preach man, exhort him both by word and deed to the study of himself.

The advice of friends must be received with a judicious reserve; we must not give ourselves up to it and follow it blindly, whether right or wrong.

It is certainly much easier wholly to decline a passion than to keep it within just bounds and measures; and that which few can moderate almost anybody may prevent.

Pleasure and pain, though directly opposite are contrived to be constant companions.

He who receives a benefit should never forget it; he who bestows should never remember it.

Wise men mingle mirth with their cares, as a help either to forget or overcome them; but to resort to intoxication for the ease of one's mind is to cure melancholy by madness.

Riches should be admitted into our houses, but not into our hearts; we may take them into our possession, but not into our affections.

All religions are pieced together out of elements which seem so at odds with reason that any intelligence laughs at them.

To owe an obligation to a worthy friend is a happiness, and can be no disparagement.

Wounds and hardships provoke our courage, and when our fortunes are at the lowest, our wits and minds are commonly at the best.

The shortest follies are the best.

What do you think? Does this face make me look fat?

I don't spend money on books. I write them myself.

So if I design it and then go away, it's still living somewhere and it still exists by itself without me.

Your own level of self-acceptance is determined largely by how well you feel you are accepted by the important people in your life.

I spent more time in America, but I developed a very English sense of humour. I clicked into it deeply with Peter Sellers, who is still probably my favourite comedian.

Fear was the biggest bullshitter, he’d said. But sometimes, too, fear told the truth.

One is defeated only when one accepts defeat.

I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon.

If you don't like a place, maybe you don't know enough about it... Give a culture the benefit of your open mind.

God has given us the fascination and mystery of irrational numbers, as one aspect of a rich world