Principles have a way of yielding to power.
to ask for anything of consequence from friends who cannot refuse is uncivilized.
you must not use wood to put out the fire.
The young see what they wish to see. The old see what they do not wish.
What harm is there in dreaming, if it eases pain? What good is reality, if it blots out hope? Can a man's mind be washed without bleaching his soul?
prophecies do not alter fate, only confirm it.