The most part of all princes have more delight in warlike manners and feats of chivalry than in the good feats of peace.

I should only ever tell the king what he ought to do, not what he could do. For if the lion knows his own strength, no man could control him.

There are several sorts of religions, not only in different parts of the island, but even in every town; some worshipping the sun, others the moon or one of the planets.

. . . the state of things and the dispositions of men were then such, that a man could not well tell whom he might trust or whom he might fear.

The servant may not look to be in better case than his master.

Because the soul has such deep roots in personal and social life and its values run so contrary to modern concerns, caring for the soul may well turn out to be a radical act, a challenge to accepted norms.

Pride measures prosperity not by her own advantages but by the disadvantages of others. She would not even wish to be a goddess unless there were some wretches left whom she could order about and lord it over, whose misery would make her happiness seem all the more extraordinary, whose poverty can be tormented and exacerbated by a display of her wealth. This infernal serpent, pervading the human heart, keeps men from reforming their lives, holding them back like a suckfish.