“Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.”

The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.

For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.

I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned.

The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.

This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.

Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.

When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.

War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.

The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.

The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.

A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man.

Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.

But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

The Emancipation Proclamation…can remind us in 2013 of all the mistakes we never want to commit again but it can also motivate us to fulfill to an ever greater degree

If some one commits an error and wrong toward you, you must instantly forgive him.

Anyone with a gun can go out and commit an act of terrorism, even without a political affiliation.

Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now.

Breakfast is everything. The beginning, the first thing. It is the mouthful that is the commitment to a new day, a continuing life.

What I love the most about us is that we are fully committed to each other without losing ourselves.

Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.

Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.