And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people.

Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.

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.