“Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage.”

Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought.

It is men who make a city, not walls or ships.

They whose minds are least sensitive to calamity, and whose hands are most quick to meet it, are the greatest men and the greatest communities.

Men’s indignation, it seems, is more exited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.

Now the only sure basis of an alliance is for each party to be equally afraid of the other.

When tremendous dangers are involved, no one can be blamed for looking to his own interest.

Knowledge without understanding is useless.

Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war.

It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who treat them well, and look up to those who make no concessions.

And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their inferiors, on the whole succeed best.

It is from the greatest dangers that the greatest glory is to be won.

We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.

Human nature is the one constant through human history. It is always there.

War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.

The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.

An avowal of poverty is no disgrace to any man; to make no effort to escape it is indeed disgraceful.

As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, my first responsibility is to the taxpayer.

The chief virtue that language can have is clarity.

The chief merit of language is clearness.

The chief merit of language is clearness, and we know that nothing detracts so much from this as do unfamiliar terms.

No commander-in-chief should leave Americans behind in the aftermath of a failure.

The chief symptom of adolescence is a state of expectation, a tendency towards creative work, and a need for the strengthening of self-confidence.

It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training.

There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL convertible.