Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life — there, if one must speak out, the real man. – Marcus Aurelius
Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also. – Marcus Aurelius
When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it. – Marcus Aurelius
You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long. – Marcus Aurelius
Let one who wants to move and convince others, first be convinced and moved themselves. If a person speaks with genuine earnestness the thoughts, the emotion and the actual condition of their own heart, others will listen because we all are knit together by the tie of sympathy. – Thomas Carlyle