The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one’s designs to one’s means.
Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.
The advance and perfecting of mathematics are closely joined to the prosperity of the nation.
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride.
It’s the people who are in the wrong who get angry.
Which is heavier: a soldier’s pack or a slave’s chains?
Good intelligence is nine-tenths of any battle.
To imagine that it is possible to perform great military deeds without fighting is just empty dreams.
The affairs of war, like the destiny of battles, as well as empires, hang upon a spiders thread.
The unwilling soldier will do anything to fight for a useless fabric piece of ribbon.
In war it is not men, but the man who counts.
The first quality of the commander-in-chief is a cool head to receive a correct impression of things. He should not allow himself to be confused by either good or bad news.
What is the future? What is the past? What are we? What is the magic fluid that surrounds us and conceals the things we most need to know? We live and die in the midst of marvels.
England would be better off without Canada; it keeps her in a prepared state for war at a great expense and constant irritation.
In Russia there are no roads – only areas.
Of all the peoples of Europe, Spaniards disgust me the least.
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Success is the most convincing talker in the world.
Surely in a matter of this kind we should endeavor to do something, that we may say that we have not lived in vain, that we may leave some impress of ourselves on the sands of time.