War is a profession by which a man cannot live honorably; an employment by which the soldier, if he would reap any profit, is obliged to be false, rapacious, and cruel.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.

It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.

Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.

There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.