In private enterprises men may advance or recede, whereas they who aim at empire have no alternative between the highest success and utter downfall.
Lust of power is the most flagrant of all the passions.
Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.
The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.
Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.
The task of history is to hold out for reprobation every evil word and deed, and to hold out for praise every great and noble word and deed.