Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish.
The secret to success is constancy of purpose.
The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for civilisation.
When I want to read a novel, I write one.
I have brought myself, by long meditation, to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment.
To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them.
I repeat... that all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise; that from the people and for the people all springs, and all must exist.
Man is made to adore and to obey: but if you will not command him, if you give him nothing to worship, he will fashion his own divinities, and find a chieftain in his own passions.
Adventures are to the adventurous.
Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter.
The governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments' plans.
The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations.
War is never a solution; it is an aggravation.
Grief is the agony of an instant; the indulgence of grief the blunder of a life.
My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
Almost everything that is great has been done by youth.
Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.
Be amusing: never tell unkind stories; above all, never tell long ones.
Nationality is the miracle of political independence; race is the principle of physical analogy.
What we anticipate seldom occurs: but what we least expect generally happens.