Half dust, half deity, unfit alike to sink or soar

Better to sink beneath the shock than molder piecemeal on the rock

A thousand years scarce serve to form a state; An hour may lay it in the dust

Men think highly of those who rise rapidly in the world; whereas nothing rises quicker than dust, straw, and feathers.

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern.

A day may sink or save a realm.