The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident.

By numberless examples it will evidently appear that human affairs are as subject to change and fluctuation as the waters of the sea agitated by the winds.

The affairs of this world are so shifting and depend on so many accidents, that it is hard to form any judgment concerning the future; nay, we see from experience that the forecasts even of the wise almost always turn out false.

Affairs that depend on many rarely succeed.

The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident.

Ambassadors are the eye and ear of states.

We fight to great disadvantage when we fight with those who have nothing to lose.