Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most.

It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position.

Hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared.

And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their inferiors, on the whole succeed best.

For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity.

War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.

Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils.