This above all

The Advice of PoloniusGuard your thoughts and be measured in your actions.

Hang on to true friends with all your might and be wary of unproven companions.

Avoid quarrels and hold firm to what is rightfully yours.

Listen much, speak less. Accept criticism and reserve judgment.

Live within your means and err on the side of modesty. Avoid the fancy, rich and gaudy. Look to the example of others.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be; a loan will often lose both itself and the friend. Borrowing makes one less thrifty.

This above all: to thine own self be true; and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst then be false to anyone.

Farewell: I give you my blessing!

—William Shakespeare; Hamlet; Act I, Scene III; Polonius gives advice to his son Laertes before the son leaves for his trip to France.

Painting: Jehan Georges Vibert (1840 - 1902), The Preening Peacock