A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed, but one hardly admires vultures whom bureaucrats so strangely resemble. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty, dull, almost witless, crafty or stupid, an oppressor or a thief, a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog. Who can trust such creatures?

By doubting we come at truth.

Non nobis solum nati sumus. (Not for ourselves alone are we born.)

There is no one who can give you wiser advice than you can give yourself: you will never make a slip, if you listen to your own heart.

Never was a government that was not composed of liars, malefactors and thieves.

More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.

Take from a man his reputation for probity, and the more shrewd and clever he is, the more hated and mistrusted he becomes.