يمحو النصر آثار أكثر الأعمال فشلا، فيما تجهض الهزيمة أكثر الخطط تنظيما - Niccolò Machiavelli

Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.

It is a common fault of men not to reckon on storms in fair weather.

Whence we may draw the general axiom, which never or rarely errs, that he who is the cause of another’s greatness is himself undone, since he must work either by address or force, each of which excites distrust in the person raised to power.