And the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

The spectator and historian of [Belisarius's] exploits has observed, that amidst the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without fear, slow or rapid according to the exigencies of the moment; that in the deepest distress he was animated by real or apparent hope, but that he was modest and humble in the most prosperous fortune.

Amiable weaknesses of human nature.

In the end, they wanted security more than they wanted freedom.

[The] emperor of the West, the feeble and dissolute Valentinian, [had] reached his thirty-fifth year without attaining the age of reason or courage.

[We should] suspend our belief of every tale that deviates from the laws of nature and the character of man.

War, in its fairest form, implies a perpetual violation of humanity and justice.