A society without religion is like a vessel without compass.

I cannot believe there is a god who punishes and rewards, for I see honest folk unlucky, and rogues unlucky.

There is no Nation however small which had the right to set itself free, that has not rescued itself from the dishonour of obeying the Prince imposed by an enemy in the hour of victory.

In these days the invention of printing, and the diffusion of knowledge, render historical calumnies a little less dangerous: truth will always prevail in the long run, but how slow its progress!

There is only one thing in this world, and that is to keep acquiring money and more money, power and more power. All the rest is meaningless.

There is only one favorable moment in war; talent consists in knowing how to seize it.

The first quality of a soldier is constancy in enduring fatigue and hardship. Courage is only the second. Poverty privation and want are the school of the good soldier.