“Grand strategy is the art of looking beyond the present battle and calculating ahead. Focus on your ultimate goal and plot to reach it.”

People go into things for the wrong reasons.

Many a serious thinker has been produced in prisons, where we have nothing to do but think.

Nothing is given to you.

The moment people feel they know what to expect from you, your spell on them is broken.

I believe that everything happens for a reason, and what seems bad at first might in fact be something of a blessing.

The problem with human beings is that they can’t sit alone in a room for more than an hour.

Boldness makes even the smallest animal dangerous.

For the future, the motto is, “No days unalert.”

What’s good for me is certainly not good for other people.

Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.

When our emotions are engaged, we often have trouble seeing things as they are.

There’s no more of an excuse for blaming other people or the world for at least not trying what you should be trying.

It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause by yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others — playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

Keep your friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent

Some people are a little bit better than others, some people are great, some people are superior. It depends on the level of effort.

True genius, in strategy or anywhere, lies in self-control, self-mastery, presence of mind, fluidity of thought.