If anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the set of beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitablyโafter careful considerations of their relative meritsโchoose that of his own country. Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best.
HerodotusIt is sound planning that invariably earns us the outcome we want; without it, even the gods are unlikely to look with favour on our designs.
Herodotus