Flatteryis the infantry of negotiation.

The art of life is the avoiding of pain.

There is a sweet joy that comes to us after sorrow.

If youare leaning over to starboard to balance the boat against the other guy'spropensity to lean too far to port, both of you are about to get wet.

Fanaticism is the false fire of an overheated mind.

It doesnot do to leave a Dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.

Grantgraciously what you cannot refuse safely and conciliate those you cannotconquer.

Nature hasgiven men one tongue and two ears, that we may hear twice as much as wespeak.

True youth is a quality which is acquired only with age.

The exercise of power is determined by thousands ofinteractions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, allthe more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyonehas a small part of himself in both.

This creative man, who in his own selfish affairs is a coward to the backbone, will fight for an idea like a hero.

Bargainlike a gypsy, but pay like a gentleman.