All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some added opportunity; the less clever man, by neglecting one thing, sometimes misses everything.

There are two merits that glorify a person: being courageous for a man and being virtuous for a woman. Besides these two, there is another merit that glorifies both man and woman: so much loving the homeland to an extent with being ready to sacrifice his/her life, if needed. Turks are such courageous and virtuous people. That is why you can kill a Turk but you can never defeat them.

Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.

Laws which are consistent in theory often prove chaotic in practice.

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.

War is a lottery in which nations ought to risk nothing but small amounts.

There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.