The willow which bends to the tempest often escapes better than the oak which resists it.

The willow which bends to the tempest often escapes better than the oak which resists it.

Great talent has always a little madness mixed up with it.

Land of my sires! what mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial band That knits me to thy rugged strand!

In prosperous times I have sometimes felt my fancy and powers of language flag, but adversity is to me at least a tonic and bracer.

It was woman that taught me cruelty, and on woman therefore I have exercised it.

Although too much of a soldier among sovereigns, no one could claim with better right to be a sovereign among soldiers.