We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose.

The gravest error a thinking person can make is to believe that one particular version of history is absolute fact. History is recorded by a series of observers, none of whom is impartial. The facts are distorted by sheer passage of time and thousands of years of humanity's dark ages, deliberate misrepresentations by religious sects, and the inevitable corruption that comes from an accumulation of careless mistakes. The wise person, then, views history as a set of lessons to be learned, choices and ramifications to be considered and discussed, and mistakes that should never again be made.

Can you collect chaos? Not collecting, that is the ultimate gathering. What can you gather without gathering yourself.

Chance is the nature of our universe. [...] madness represents a chaotic reservoir of surprises. Some surprises can be valuable.

Control the coinage and the courts — let the rabble have the rest.

One uses power by grasping it lightly. To grasp too strongly is to be taken over by power, and thus to become its victim.

There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers. Nothing. Nothing can be done.