Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.

The Persians are very fond of wine ... It is also their general practice to deliberate upon affairs of weight when they are drunk; and then in the morning, when they are sober, the decision to which they came the night before is put before them by the master of the house in which it was made; and if it is then approved they act on it; if not, they set it aside. Sometimes, however, they are sober at their first deliberations, but in this case they always reconsider the matter under the influence of wine.

Force has no place where there is need of skill.

He is the best man who, when making his plans, fears and reflects on everything that can happen to him, but in the moment of action is bold.

A multitude of rulers is not a good thing. Let there be one ruler, one king.

Many exceedingly rich men are unhappy, but many middling circumstances are fortunate.

Those who are skilled in archery bend their bow only when they are preparing to use it; when they do not require it, they allow it to remain unbent, for otherwise it would remain unserviceable when the time for using it arrived. So it is with man. If he were to devote himself unceasingly to a dull round of business, without breaking the monotony by cheerful amusements, he would fall imperceptibly into idiocy, or be struck by paralysis