Do you know what is more hard to bear than the reverses of fortune? It is the baseness, the hideous ingratitude, of man.

Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.

Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied.

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.

Medicine is a collection of uncertain prescriptions, the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind.

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.

Die young, and I shall accept your death-but not if you have lived without glory, without being useful to your country, without leaving a trace of your existence: for that is not to have lived at all.