All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.

I am bound to tell what I am told, but not in every case to believe it.

Civil strife is as much a greater evil than a concerted war effort as war itself is worse than peace.

Bowmen bend their bows when they wish to shoot: unbrace them when the shooting is over. Were they kept always strung they would break and fail the archer in time of need. So it is with men. If they give themselves constantly to serious work, and never indulge awhile in pastime or sport, they lose their senses and become mad.

It is better to be envied than pitied.

The gods loves to punish whatever is greater than the rest.

A general curiosity about the unknown sparked by the multicultural milieu in which I spent my formative years. There was a lot of unknown back then, too. I dare say it was easier to be an explorer then.