“Monarch, thou wishest to cover thyself with glory; be the first to submit to the laws of thy empire.”

Make wisdom your provision for the journey from youth to old age, for it is a more certain support than all other possessions.

I taught myself how to pole vault in one day. The next day I entered a meet to pole vault and won it all for the state of Alabama.

Hear much; speak little.

Be slow in considering, but resolute in action.

The greatest misfortune of all is not to be able to bear misfortune.

He who will lose a present good for one in expectation hath some wit, but a small store of wisdom.

It is better to decide a difference between enemies than friends, for one of our friends will certainly become an enemy and one of our enemies a friend.

I have done many impious things–no great ruler can do otherwise. I have put the good of the Empire before all human considerations. To keep the Empire free from factions I have had to commit many crimes.

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.

Advice? I don’t offer advice. Not my business. Your life is what you make it.

I have often before now been convinced that a democracy is incapable of empire.

To make an empire durable, the magistrates must obey the laws and the people the magistrates.

There have been so many empires, kings are kinda going out of style.

The empire fell well before the invasion of the barbarians. It collapsed from the collective softness of its citizens’ minds and the turning of their back on reality.

Behold a republic standing erect while empires all around are bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments – a republic whose flag is loved while other flags are only feared.