Piety is not an end, but a means: a means of attaining the highest culture by the purest tranquillity of soul.
Hence it may be observed that those who set up piety as an end and object are mostly hypocrites.
When a man is old he must do more than when he was young.
To fulfil a duty is still always to feel it as a debt, for it is never quite satisfying to oneself.
Defects are perceived only by one who has no love; therefore, to see them, a man must become uncharitable, but not more so than is necessary for the purpose.