Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.

There should be many judges, for few will always do the will of few.

For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.

One arises from a low to a high station more often by using fraud instead of force.

When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.

For one change always leaves a dovetail into which another will fit.

The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.