For Without Invention, No One Was Ever

The World Has Always Been The Same; And There Is Always As Much Good Fortune As Bad In It.

States That Rise Quickly, Just As All The Other Things Of Nature That Are Born And Grow Rapidly, Cannot Have Roots And Ramifications; The First Bad Weather Kills Them

....nothing Is So Unhealthy Or Unstable As The Reputation For Power That Is Not Based On One's Own Power.

One Can Generally Say This About Men: That They Are Ungrateful, Fickle, Simulators And Deceivers, Avoiders Of Danger, Greedy For Gain; And While You Work For Their Good They Are Completely Yours, Offering You Their Blood, Their Property, Their Lives, And Their Sons When Danger Is Far Away; But When It Comes Nearer To You, They Turn Away.

Every Little Advantage Is Of Great Moment When Men Have To Come To Blows.