Nations get as good or as bad a government as they deserve.

It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty,or to seek power over others and to lose power over a man's self.

A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles.

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.

It isdifficult to negotiate where neither will trust.

You'rein a much better position to talk with people when they approach you thanwhen you approach them.

Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken

Onlywhen you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard andstrong.

Due to circumstances beyond your control, you are master of your fateand captain of your soul.

Responsibility is the high price of self-ownership.

A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyoneelse.

A lifemaking mistakes is not only more honorable, butmore useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.