Ancestral glory is, as it were, a lamp to posterity.

He that will be angry for anything will be angry for nothing.

But at power or wealth, for the sake of which wars, and all kinds of strife, arise among mankind, we do not aim; we desire only our liberty, which no honorable man relinquishes but with his life.

No man underestimates the wrongs he suffers; many take them more seriously than is right.

Neither soldiers nor money can defend a king but only friends won by good deeds, merit, and honesty.

As the blessings of health and fortune have a beginning, so they must also find an end. Everything rises but to fall, and increases but to decay.

To have the same desires and the same aversion is assuredly a firm bond of friendship.

In my opinion, he only may be truly said to live and enjoy his being who is engaged in some laudable pursuit, and acquires a name by some illustrious action, or useful art.

No mortal man has ever served at the same time his passions and his best interests.

For harmony makes small states great, while discord undermines the mightiest empires.

We employ the mind to rule, the body to serve.

In my own case, who have spent my whole life in the practice of virtue, right conduct from habitual has become natural.

All those who offer an opinion on any doubtful point should first clear their minds of every sentiment of dislike, friendship, anger or pity.

Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.

The fame that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; intellectual superiority is a possession glorious and eternal.

Poor Britons, there is some good in them after all -- they produced an oyster.

In my opinion it is less shameful for a king to be overcome by force of arms than by bribery.

It is better to use fair means and fail, than foul and conquer.

Boldness is a bulwark.

It is a law of human nature that in victory even the coward may boast of his prowess, while defeat injures the reputation even of the brave.