We are forced to respect the gifts of nature, which study and fortune cannot give.
Vice foments war; it is virtue which actually fights. If there were no virtue, we would live in peace forever.
If it is true that vice can never be done away with, the science of government consists of making it contribute to the public good.
Servitude degrades people to such a point that they come to like it.
Neither the gifts nor the blows of fortune equal those of nature.
The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success.