A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.

There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.

Appear as you may wish to be

The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.

Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.

Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.

A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways.

Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved

…he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.

Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.

It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.

How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation.

Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.

Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.

Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.

I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.

Never was anything great achieved without danger.

If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

I had no proof that I had the stuff to be an artist, though I hungered to be one.

I am the person I want to be. I got to teach and had some of the greatest times in my life learning that I had some teaching skills and doing some incredible things teaching 200 hours of computers a year to fifth graders, making them experts at certain things.