If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.

The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.

Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.

You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

Respect the burden.

Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.

It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.

To do all that one is able to do, is to be a man; to do all that one would like to do, is to be a god.

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.

Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.

History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.

What is history but a fable agreed upon?

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.

In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.

If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.

Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.

One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.

Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.

Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.

All religions have been made by men.

Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.

It requires more courage to suffer than to die.

The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains.

Imagination rules the world.

The human race is governed by its imagination.