To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power.

True happiness is...to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.

Familiarity reduces the greatness of things.

A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.

The voice of flattery affects us after it has ceased, just as after a concert men find some agreeable air ringing in their ears to the exclusion of all serious business.

He may as well not thank at all, who thanks when none are by.

No one can hold absolute power for long, controlled power endures.