“Let there be nothing untried; for nothing happens by itself, but men obtain all things by trying.”

Civil strife is as much a greater evil than a concerted war effort as war itself is worse than peace.

Happiness is not fame or riches or heroic virtues, but a state that will inspire posterity to think in reflecting upon our life, that it was the life they would wish to live.

The secret of success is that it is not the absence of failure, but the absence of envy.

But I like not these great successes of yours; for I know how jealous are the gods.

In soft regions are born soft men.

He is the best man who, when making his plans, fears and reflects on everything that can happen to him, but in the moment of action is bold.

Those who are guided by reason are generally successful in their plans; those who are rash and precipitate seldom enjoy the favour of the gods.

But if you know that you are a man too, and that even such are those that rule, learn this first of all: that all human affairs are a wheel which, as it turns, does not allow the same men always to be fortunate.

I know that human happiness never remains long in the same place.

Call no man happy before he dies.

The sun will not shine on any country that has borders with ours.

It is a law of nature that fainthearted men should be the fruit of luxurious countries, for we never find that the same soil produces delicacies and heroes.

One should always look to the end of everything, how it will finally come out. For the god has shown blessedness to many only to overturn them utterly in the end.

History is marked by alternating movements across the imaginary line that separates East from West in Eurasia.

Envy is so natural to human kind, that it cannot but arise.

If you have two loaves of bread, keep one to nourish the body, but sell the other to buy hyacinths for the soul.

There’s a way to do it better – find it.

We have an opportunity to get better.

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

You gotta make a change. You see the old way wasn’t working so it’s on us, to do what we gotta do to survive.

Your best posture is your next posture.

I just like to do the fun stuff. If I’m not having fun with it, I’m not going to do it for the rest of my life.

You stand up for what you believe in.

My biggest asset is that I know how to learn, and that, I believe, will help me in the long run.