The best way to keep one's word is not to give it. Lack is more in means than in principles. Men of genius are meteors intended to burn to light their century. Men take only their needs into consideration, never their abilities. Never awake me when you have good news to announce, because with good news nothing presses; but when you have bad news, arouse me immediately, for then there is not an instant to be lost. Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me. Public morals are natural complements of all laws: they are by themselves an entire code. The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man. Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in. The most dangerous moment comes with victory. |