Anyone who clings to the historically untrue - and thoroughly immoral - doctrine that violence never settles anything I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and the duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler would referee. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forgot this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and there freedoms.
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A Constitution should be short and obscure.
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The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
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There is no class of people so hard to manage in a state, as those whose intentions are honest, but whose consciences are bewitched.
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History is a set of lies agreed upon.
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The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.
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Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
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Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
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In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.
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One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.
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If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
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A leader is a dealer in hope.
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Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence
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It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
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A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
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Secrets travel fast in Paris.
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He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
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In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
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Ability is of little account without opportunity.
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Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
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The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
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Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.
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When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
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Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
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Truth alone wounds.
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Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
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Chance is the providence of adventurers.
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Ambition never is in a greater hurry that I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.
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A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories.
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There are two levers for moving men -- interest and fear.
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