The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.

Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony

Only those means of security are good, are certain, are lasting, that depend on yourself and your own vigor.

We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.

The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved.

It is a foolish prince who entrusts the safety of his lands to hired men.

He who has once begun to live by rapine always finds reasons for taking what is not his.