A son could bear with great complacency, the death of his father, while the loss of his inheritance might drive him to despair.

Every little advantage is of great moment when men have to come to blows.

One should never allow chaos to develop in order to avoid going to war, because one does not avoid a war but instead puts it off to his disadvantage

Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.

A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.

He who desires or attempts to reform the government of a state and wishes to have it accepted, must at least retain the semblance of the old forms; so that it may seem to the people that there has been no change in the institutions, even though in fact they are entirely different from the old ones. For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities.

One must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves