 A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all. |
| It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured. |
| Victor and vanquished never unite in substantial agreement. |
| Greater things are believed of those who are absent. |
| In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous. |
| Love of fame is the last thing even learned men can bear to be parted from. |
| A bad peace is even worse than war. |
| Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir. |
| When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad. |
| Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop. |
| No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor. |
| To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace. |
| Be assured those will be thy worst enemies, not to whom thou hast done evil, but who have done evil to thee. And those will be thy best friends, not to whom thou hast done good, but who have done good to thee. |
| When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied. |
| Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader. |
| It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure. |
| Abuse if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it. |
| Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards. |
| We see many who are struggling against adversity who are happy, and more although abounding in wealth, who are wretched. |
| Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor. |
