The Wise Person Often Shuns

All Men's Misfortunes Spring From Their Hatred Of Being Alone.

It Is In Vain To Ridicule A Rich Fool, For The Laughers Will Be On His Side.

This Great Misfortune, To Be Incapable Of Solitude.

A Man's Worth Is Estimated In This World According To His Conduct.

From Time To Time There Appear On The Face Of The Earth Men Of Rare And Consummate Excellence, Who Dazzle Us By Their Virtue, And Whose Outstanding Qualities Shed A Stupendous Light. Like Those Extraordinary Stars Of Whose Origins We Are Ignorant, And Of Whose Fate, Once They Have Vanished, We Know Even Less, Such Men Have Neither Forebears Nor Descendants: They Are The Whole Of Their Race.