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There are so many laws that no one is safe from hanging.
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In war you see your own troubles; those of the enemy you cannot see. You must show confidence.
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The practice of law sharpens the mind by making it narrow.
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Men are ruled by toys.
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Good and decent people must be protected and persuaded by gentle means, but the rabble must be led by terror.
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It is the success which makes great men.
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I have so often been mistaken that I no longer blush for it.
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He, who practices right, but in the hope of acquiring great renown, is very near to vice.
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Providence is always on the side of the last reserve.
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Leaders deal in hope.
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The affairs of war, like the destiny of battles, as well as empires, hang upon a spiders thread.
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A legislator must know how to take advantage of even the defects of those he wants to govern. The art consists in making others work rather than in wearing oneself out.
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Europe thus divided into nationalities freely formed and free internally, peace between States would have become easier: the United States of Europe would become a possibility.
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Keep a good table and attend to the ladies.
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He is almost a statesman. He lies well.
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Since the discovery of printing, knowledge has been called to power, and power has been used to make knowledge a slave.
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All the great captains have performed vast achievements by conforming with the rules of art--by adjusting efforts to obstacles.
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Suicide is a crime the most revolting to the feelings; nor does any reason suggest itself to our understanding by which it can be justified. It certainly originates in that species of fear which we denominate poltroonery. For what claim can that man have to courage who trembles at the frowns of fortunes? True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life in whatever shape they may challenge him to combat.
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There is no man more pusillanimous than I when I am planning a campaign. I purposely exaggerate all the dangers and all the calamities that the circumstances make possible. I am in a thoroughly painful state of agitation. This does not keep me from looking quite serene in front of my entourage; I am like an unmarried girl laboring with child. Once I have made up my mind, everything is forgotten except what leads to success.
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The allies we gain by victory will turn against us upon the bare whisper of our defeat.
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There is only one favorable moment in war; talent consists in knowing how to seize it.
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Nothing is so contrary to military rules as to make the strength of your army known, either in the orders of the day, in proclamations, or in the newspapers.
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You cannot treat with all the world at once.
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How can you have order in a state without religion? For, when one man is dying of hunger near another who is ill of surfeit, he cannot resign himself to this difference unless there is an authority which declares 'God wills it thus.' Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.