“This is a sickness rooted and inherent in the nature of a tyranny: that he that holds it does not trust his friends.” 

“A curse burns bright on crime.” 

“A tyrant's trust dishonors those who earn it.” 

“Look at him, look how he drips unhealth—shudder object!” 

“We nearly always live through screens—a screened existence. And I sometimes think, when people say my work looks violent, that I have been able to clear away one or two of the veils or screens.4” 

The secret of success is constancy of purpose.

The true success is the person who invented himself.

“Only when man's life comes to its end in prosperity can one call that man fortunate.” 

“My heart's a dance of fear.” 

“Death is a softer thing by far than tyranny.” 

“Time brings all things to pass.” 

“Excessive fear is always powerless.” 

“When evil come on those we dearly love, never shall we betray them.” 

“Pain both ways and what is worse?” 

“From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.” 

“Let me attain no envied wealth, let me not plunder cities, neither be taken in turn, and face life in the power of another.” 

“Old men are always young enough to learn, with profit.” 

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

“But concern not thou thyself vainly with matters that are of no advantage.” 

“Time in its aging course teaches all things.” 

“But you cannot speak of any glory for happenings that are at once evil and held in dishonor.” 

“What suckling craved the creature, born full-fanged?” 

“Commander against commander, brother against brother, enemy against enemy, I will take my stand. Quick, bring my greaves to protect against spears and stones!” 

“But who can recount all 595 the high daring in the will of man, and in the stubborn hearts of women the all-adventurous passions that couple with man’s overthrow.” 

“Right’s anvil stands staunch on the ground and the smith, Destiny, hammers out the sword. Delayed in glory, pensive from 650 the murk, Vengeance brings home at last a child, to wipe out the stain of blood shed long ago.” 

“I shall select judges of manslaughter, and swear them in, establish a court into all time to come. 485 Litigants, call your witnesses, have ready your proofs as evidence under bond to keep this case secure. I will pick the finest of my citizens, and come back. They shall swear to make no judgment that is not just, and make clear where in this action the truth lies.” 

“I salute you as the Gates of Death” 

“Learning comes through pain.” 

Find somebody to be successful for. Raise their hopes. Think of their needs.

“It can hardly be coincidence that at just that same time, in 508, the Athenians radically changed their political constitution to transfer ultimate power to the people (demos)—in other words, they inaugurated the world’s first democracy. So the first performance of the Oresteia may well mark the fiftieth birthday both of democracy and of theater.” 

“There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls. There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain.” 

If you want to be successful, find out what the price is and then pay it.

The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.

Living our life deeply and with happiness, having time to care for our loved ones – this is another kind of success, another kind of power, and it is much more important.

The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something.

“And it's safe to assume that those in power would think longer and harder about launching a war if they envisioned their own sons and daughters in harm's way.” 

“The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.” 

“The public school system is not about educating black children. Never has been. Inner-city schools are about social control. Period. They’re operated as holding pens—miniature jails, really. It’s only when black children start breaking out of their pens and bothering white people that society even pays any attention to the issue of whether these children are being educated.” 

“Reading is important. If you know how to read then the whole world opens up to you” 

“For half of the world's population, roughly three billion people around the world living on less than two dollars a day, an election is at best a means, not an end; a starting point, not deliverance. These people are looking less for an "electocracy" than for the basic elements that for most of us define a decent life--food, shelter, electricity, basic health care, education for their children, and the ability to make their way through life without having to endure corruption, violence, or arbitrary power.” 

“To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.” 

“Better to be strong,' he [Lolo] said...'if you can't be strong, be clever and make peace with someone who's strong. But always better to be strong yourself.” 

“Where there is no experience the wise man is silent.” 

“all the education and good intentions in the world couldn’t help plug up the holes in the universe or give you the power to change its blind, mindless course.” 

“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.” 

“There's nobody to guide through the process of becoming a man... to explain to them the meaning of manhood. And that's a recipe for disaster.” 

“I thought I could start over, you see. But now I know you can never start over. Not really. You think you have control, but you are like a fly in somebody else’s web. Sometimes I think that’s why I like accounting. All day, you are only dealing with numbers. You add them, multiply them, and if you are careful, you will always have a solution. There’s a sequence there. An order. With numbers, you can have control….” 

“Winter came and the city [Chicago] turned monochrome -- black trees against gray sky above white earth. Night now fell in midafternoon, especially when the snowstorms rolled in, boundless prairie storms that set the sky close to the ground, the city lights reflected against the clouds” 

“Words do inspire. ” 

“If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists – to protect them and to promote their common welfare – all else is lost.”