True friends share everything, except the past before they met.

There is nothing like despair to make one throw oneself upon the gods.

All men seek esteem; the best by lifting themselves, which is hard to do, the rest by shoving others down, which is much easier.

It gives me no joy to be praised at the expense of a better artist, by someone who does not know the difference or who thinks me too vain to be aware of it myself.

I was a king and a king's heir and now I am a slave.

Power is the test. Some, once they have it, are content to buy the show of liking, and punish those who withhold it; then you have a despot. But some keep a true eye for how they seem to others, and care about it, which holds them back from much mischief.

Often beauty grows dull or common when speech breaks the mask.