Make foes of bowmen if you must,
Never of penmen.

Folded hands may conceal a dagger --
Likewise a foe's tears.

The vast world rainless, one may bid adieu
To charity and penance.

It is politics to please and hoodwink those
Who flatter but despise us.

We do not place especial value on the possession of a virtue until we notice its total absence in our opponent.

To reprove a harm-doer, put him to shame by doing a good deed in return.