Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
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.
The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.
It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
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.
If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.
History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
Imagination rules the world.
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Women are nothing but machines for producing children.
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.
There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.
The human race is governed by its imagination.
What is history but a fable agreed upon?
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.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
All religions have been made by men.
Respect the burden.
Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.
History is a set of lies agreed upon.
Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.
The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.
The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue courage is only the second virtue.
One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.
Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
A leader is a dealer in hope.