Virtue has needs of limits.
Virtue in a republic is the love of one's country, that is the love of equality.
If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman... because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.
Lunch kills half of Paris, supper the other half.
A rational army would run away.
What orators lack in depth they make up for in length.