It is the crime not the scaffold which is the disgrace.

How delicious is pleasure after torment!

He who has resolved to conquer or die is seldom conquered; such noble despair perishes with difficulty.

I would not like a king who could obey.

These flattering mirrors reflect imperfectly what is within; the countenance is often a gay deceiver. What defects of mind lie hidden under its beauty! What fair exteriors conceal base souls!

The universe has no prince or king that it [Rome] would consider equal to its humblest citizen.

A monarch must sometimes rule even himself: he who wants everything must risk very little.