Patience is the courage of the conqueror, the strength of man against destiny.

A woman too often reasons from her heart; hence two-thirds of her mistakes and her troubles.

Keep unscathed the good name; keep out of peril the honor without which even your battered old soldier who is hobbling into his grave on half-pay and a wooden leg would not change with Achilles.

The prudent person may direct a state, but it is the enthusiast who regenerates or ruins it

The fewer blows, the better. Brave men fight if they must; wise men never fight if they can help it.

To judge human character rightly, a man may sometimes have very small experience, provided he has a very large heart.

A man is already of consequence in the world when it is known that we can implicitly rely upon him. Often I have known a man to be preferred in stations of honor and profit because he had this reputation: When he said he knew a thing, he knew it, and when he said he would do a thing, he did it.