Do not be contentious in all things, but only where it will profit you to have your own way. Do not think men weak who yield a point to their own advantage, but rather those who prevail to their own injury. Do not consider that the great souls are those who undertake more than they can achieve, but those who, having noble aims, are also able to accomplish whatever they attempt.

Emulate, not those who have most widely extended their dominion, but those who have made best use of the power they already possess;Cf. Isoc. 3.34. and believe that you will enjoy the utmost happiness, not if you rule over the whole world at the price of fears and dangers and baseness, but rather if, being the man you should be, and continuing to act as at the present moment, you set your heart on moderate achievements and fail in none of them.