The hand that gives is among the hand that takes. Money has no fatherland, financiers are without patriotism and without decency, their sole object is gain.

From triumph to downfall is but a step. I have seen a trifle decide the most important issues in the gravest affairs.

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.

Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.

To write history one must be more than a man, since the author who holds the pen of this great justiciary must be free from all preoccupation of interest or vanity.

A Constitution should be short and obscure.

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.