A man's enjoyment of all good things is in exact proportion to the pains he has undergone to gain them.

A man's enjoyment of all good things is in exact proportion to the pains he has undergone to gain them.

We love ourselves notwithstanding our faults, and we ought to love our friends in like manner.

Success always calls for greater generosity - though most people, lost in the darkness of their own egos, treat it as an occasion for greater greed. Collecting boot is not an end itself, but only a means for building an empire. Riches would be of little use to us now - except as a means of winning new friends.

I am Cyrus, king of the world.

Whenever you can, act as a liberator. Freedom, dignity, wealth - these three together constitute the greatest happiness of humanity. If you bequeath all three to your people, their love for you will never die.

In my experience, men who respond to good fortune with modesty and kindness are harder to find than those who face adversity with courage.