“Constant toil and unbroken application are the food of my spirit; when I begin to rest and slacken my work, I shall also cease to live.”

Original: Labor assiduus et continua applicatio cibus est animi mei; cum quiescere et laborem remittere coepero, tunc etiam vivere desinam. — Work as vocation rather than burden. · Letters (Epistole), commonly cited (Latin)

• Discipline
• Life
• Work

“I have always held wealth in extreme contempt, not because riches are undesirable in themselves, but because I hated the toil and anxiety that cling to them inseparably.”

Original: Divitiarum contemptor eximius: non quod divitias non optarem, sed labores curasque oderam, opum comites inseparabiles. — A self-portrait that values quiet study over the burdens of fortune. · Letter to Posterity (Posteritati) (Latin)

• Solitude
• Wealth
• Work