Be self-denying, but do not boast of it.

Be independent and moderate, and regard not the opinion or censure of others, but keep a watch upon yourself as your own most dangerous enemy.

Do not plume yourself on an _intellectual_ knowledge of philosophy, which is in itself quite valueless, but on a consistent nobleness of action.

Never relax your efforts, but aim at perfection.

Let everything which seems best be to you a law not to be transgressed; and whenever anything painful, or pleasurable, or glorious, or inglorious, is set before you, remember that now is the struggle, now is the hour of the Olympian contest, and it may not be put off, and that by a single defeat or yielding your advance in virtue may be either secured or lost.