You expect far too much of a first sentence. Think of it as analagous to a good country breakfast: what we want is something simple, but nourishing to the imagination. Hold the philosophy, hold the adjectives, just give us a plain subject and verb and perhaps a wholesome, nonfattening adverb or two.

If a warrior lacked wisdom, courage alone would not keep him alive for long.

If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.

A bookman’s love of books is a love of books, not merely of the information in them.

Members of the Academy are mostly urban people. We are an urban nation. We are not a rural nation. It's not easy even to get a rural story made.

From him to the stars, in all directions, there was only silence and emptiness.

I don't do well with changes in my routine. I read at least three newspapers a day, for example. I'm frustrated if for some reason I can't get ahold of all three.