Nikita Ivanovich Panin

A man should never be assumed foolish till he has proved himself foolish - this we owe him. A man should never be assumed wise till he has proved himself wise - this we owe to ourselves.

In youth the days are short and the years are long; in old age the years are short and the days long.

Men have to find truth; not because it is lost, but because they are lost.

The husband needs to be blind at times; the wife deaf; both need much of the time to be dumb.

The owl is, therefore, the bird of wisdom because even a fool can see when it is light; it is the wise man who can see when it is dark.

To be a good child he needs but little man in him; to be a good man he needs much of the child in him.

Two men please God - who serves Him with all his heart because he knows Him; who seeks Him with all his heart because he knows Him not.

To be forbearing to all - that is love; to be relentless toward self - that is wisdom; to be content with what one has - that is riches; to be discontented with what one is - that is piety.

To crave more than you need - that is poverty.

To seek virtue for the sake of reward is to dig for iron with a spade of gold.

True progress consists not so much in increasing our needs as in diminishing our wants.