Conspiracies, Since They Cannot Be

Waste No Time With Revolutions That Do Not Remove The Causes Of Your Complaints But Simply Change The Faces Of Those In Charge.

The Affairs Of This World Are So Shifting And Depend On So Many Accidents, That It Is Hard To Form Any Judgment Concerning The Future; Nay, We See From Experience That The Forecasts Even Of The Wise Almost Always Turn Out False.

Like Other Men, I Have Sought Honours And Preferment, And Often Have Obtained Them Beyond My Wishes Or Hopes. Yet Never Have I Found In Them That Content Which I Had Figured Beforehand In My Mind. A Strong Reason, If We Well Consider It, Why We Should Disencumber Ourselves Of Vain Desires.

Conspiracies, Since They Cannot Be Engaged In Without The Fellowship Of Others, Are For That Reason Most Perilous; For As Most Men Are Either Fools Or Knaves, We Run Excessive Risk In Making Such Folk Our Companions.

Even Though Many People Prove To Be Ungrateful, Do Not Let That Stop You From Benefiting Others-for Not Only Is Beneficence In Itself A Noble And Almost Divine Quality, It May Also Happen That While You Practice It, You Will Encounter Someone So Grateful That He Will Make Up For All The Others' Ingratitude.