Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.
Men willingly believe what they wish.
Which death is preferably to every other? 'The unexpected'.
I have lived long enough to satisfy both nature and glory.
What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.
I have always reckoned the dignity of the republic of first importance and preferable to life.
