If the course of human affairs be considered, it will be seen that many things arise against which heaven does not allow us to guard.

The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.

A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.

Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.

It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.

A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance.

Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.

Exuberance is beauty.

At the end of the day--of almost any day, regardless of what we have done or left undone--apathy tells us that it's perfectly acceptable to live with illusions of our own justice.

The composers could no longer direct all performances in person, and so the responsibility of interpreting their works in the spirit in which they had been conceived was placed upon conductors.

If you're a parent, the five worst words you can say to your children are, "When I was your age ..." You were never their age. You were older in the womb.

Regrets are a waste of time. They're the past crippling you in the present.

My singing is part of me, like my stoutness, or my light hair, or my poor eyesight.

What is of consequence is I did my best.

It is perfectly reasonable to despair of a world where the Nobel Committee gives the Peace Prize to a man running a war.

You're a stalker with hooves." "I am not! I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing.

No genuine equality, no real freedom, no true manhood or womanhood can exist on any foundation save that of pecuniary independence.