According to the law of custom, and perhaps of reason, foreign travel completes the education of an English gentleman.

The law of nature instructs most animals to cherish and educate their infant progeny. The law of reason inculcates to the human species the returns of filial piety.

[The] operation of the wisest laws is imperfect and precarious. They seldom inspire virtue, they cannot always restrain vice.

[It] is the interest as well as duty of a sovereign to maintain the authority of the laws.

A Locrian, who proposed any new law, stood forth in the assembly of the people with a cord round his neck, and if the law was rejected, the innovator was instantly strangled.

The science of the laws is the slow growth of time and experience.

But how shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were presented by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their senses? During the age of Christ, of his apostles, and their first disciples, the doctrine which they preached was confirmed by innumerable prodigies. The lame walked, the blind saw, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, daemons were expelled, and the laws of Nature were frequently suspended for the benefit of the church.

Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind.

[In] the national and religious conflict of the [Byzantine and Saracen] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy.

[Peace] cannot be honorable or secure, if the sovereign betrays a pusillanimous aversion to war.

The terror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to the moderation of the emperors. They preserved the peace by a constant preparation for war.

Ignorant of the arts of luxury, the primitive Romans had improved the science of government and war.

Yet the people, and even the clergy, incapable of forming any rational judgment of the business of peace and war, presumed to arraign the policy of Stilicho, who so often vanquished, so often surrounded, and so often dismissed the implacable enemy of the republic. The first moment of the public safety is devoted to gratitude and joy; but the second is diligently occupied by envy and calumny.

In less than seven years the vestiges of the Gothic invasion were almost obliterated, and the city appeared to resume its former splendour and tranquillity. The venerable matron replaced her crown of laurel, which had been ruffled by the storms of war, and was still amused in the last moment of her decay with the prophecies of revenge, of victory, and of eternal dominion.

The laws of war, that restrain the exercise of national rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of substantial interest: the knowledge of the permanent benefits which may be obtained by a moderate use of conquest, and a just apprehension lest the desolation which we inflict on the enemy's country may be retaliated on our own. But these considerations of hope and fear are almost unknown in the pastoral state of nations.

It is scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption. This long peace, and the uniform government of the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated.

Boethius might have been styled happy, if that precarious epithet could be safely applied before the last term of the life of man.

Man has much more to fear from the passions of his fellow-creatures, than from the convulsions of the elements.

I always speak with all the players during the week before every game we play, because it's important for them to know what I think and for me to see how they are before the game.

From a personal perspective, I try never to go back to a club where I have already coached.

A lot of young players relax a bit when they reach the first-team, thinking they have reached the finish line, but really, it's just the beginning.

I learned English, French, Italian.

When I live in a country, I always try to learn about the country - not just England, the U.K. as a whole - so I will stay here some days to do something different.

It is never a problem to have good players on the bench.

Life is like a building: it is impossible for anyone to achieve anything without a strong foundation, and the family is the most important foundation you can have.

As a young player, the more games you play and the more you work every day with good players, of course you will improve.

I can't get anything out of an orchestra if I have the 10 best guitarists, but I don't have a pianist or a drummer.

When you manage a big team like River Plate or Madrid, they are used to winning titles. The people are happy, but they are used to it. When you have an achievement like I had in Villarreal, reaching the semi-final of the Champions League, finishing second in the league, it's more than winning a title. It's more.

Technical players make the game easy. They have a view of the pitch different from other players. They put the last pass for the strikers. They are the players that lose two or three balls in a year.

It is vital to maintain possession and to win it back as soon as possible, because if we win it high up, then the opposition has to run 70 metres.

As for Kaka, he is a superstar... someone who can change the tempo of the game as well as the team.

To be the coach of Real Madrid is an honour, and every coach has pride in that. However, one is also subjected to a wide range of critiques - some just, but others not. But when the criticism deteriorates into insults, which has happened many times, I don't appreciate that.

If you do not know each player individually, one on one, it is impossible to form a team from 22 distinct personalities, different languages, different home countries, but with one common aim.

You create a big-club mentality with the trust of the players, the trust that the team will get results, and then, when results are not good, the trust to continue with your idea.

I would be happy to go back to Spain at the right moment.

I have enough problems trying to manage a team, without managing the FA.

Lionel Messi is very difficult to contain.

You need the desire to demonstrate the way you can play, which team you are.

Playing every day with important players is good for a young player: you are always learning from experienced players.

When you are 21 years old, and you work as a good professional, you must improve.

I don't believe in projects of more than three years.

I didn't have a voice or a vote at Madrid.

For some players, it is a dream to play at Madrid.

I've always liked technical, creative central midfielders with the capacity to score goals, such as David Silva, Samir Nasri, and Santi Cazorla.

It's very difficult to have the same motivation in the season after you've won two trophies.

The Premier league is better with Mourinho.

This hunger of triumph is fundamental in order to get results.

Football is so difficult to predict.

I never knew a manager that didn't have pressure.

To lead a group of players is to lead a group of people with different ways of thinking. You have to be prepared for that and know more than just about football. You have to speak a lot to the players, have to make them feel what you expect of them. Have to convince them. Therefore, it's very important for a coach to have a life outside football.