Walaa El-Bana > Walaa's Quotes

“All get what they want; they do not always like it.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew

“Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

“While a friend expects more and more favors, and seethes with jealousy, these former enemies expected nothing and got everything. A man suddenly spared the guillotine is a grateful man indeed, and will go to the ends of the earth for the man who has pardoned him.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“You often do not know your friends as well as you imagine. Friends often agree on things in order to avoid an argument. They cover up their unpleasant qualities so as to not offend each other. They laugh extra hard at each other's jokes. Since honesty rarely strengthens friendship, you may never know how a friend truly feels. Friends will say that they love your poetry, adore your music, envy your taste of clothes-- maybe they mean it, often they do not.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“A person who has something to prove will move mountains for you.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Without enemies around us, we grow lazy. An enemy at our heels sharpens our wits, keeping us focused and alert. It is sometimes better, then, to use enemies as enemies rather than transforming them into friends or allies.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Hide your intentions not by closing up (with the risk of appearing secretive, and making people suspicious) but by talking endlessly about your desires and goals just not your real ones. You will kill three birds with one stone: you appear friendly, open, and trusting; you conceal your intentions; and you send your rivals on time-consuming wild-goose chases.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Have you ever heard of a skillful general, who intends to surprise a citadel, announcing his plan to his enemy? Conceal your purpose and hide your progress; do not disclose the extent of your designs until they cannot be opposed, until the combat is over. Win the victory before you declare the war. In a word, imitate those warlike people whose designs are not known except by the ravaged country through which they have passed.”
― Ninon de Lenclos

“There is beauty all around us. you just need to know where to look.”
― Geoff Johns & Greg Berlanti

“If you can't ride, can you fall?
I suppose anyone can fall, said Shasta
I mean can you fall and get up again without crying and mount again and fall again and yet not be afraid of falling?”
― C.S.Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

“person who cannot control his words shows that he cannot control himself, and is unworthy of respect.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“...But the human tongue is a beast that few can master. It strains constantly to break out of its cage, and if it is not tamed, it will tun wild and cause you grief.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“There is more to the game than protecting your queen" Hamish said. "Why do you find it so difficult to remember that it's the king who's not expendable?"
"The king just sits there, moving one square at a time.The queen can move so freely. I suppose I'd rather lose the game than forfeit her freedom”
― Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches

“The scars don't bother me. They are just signs that I've fought and survived.”
― Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches

“O my mistress, do not by any means destroy yourself, for if you live you may yet have good fortune but all the dead are dead alike!”
― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

“Revenge never heals what's broken.”
― Gail Simone, Batgirl, Volume 1: The Darkest Reflection

“Don't consider painful what's good for you.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“Stop trying to be perfect. Try being real for a change.”
― Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night

“At the end of the day, my past isn't my biggest weakness, it's my biggest strength--it's what makes me who I am.”
― Kyle Higgins, Nightwing, Volume 1: Traps and Trapezes

“Everything feels familiar and different...all at the same time. I guess that's the thing about revisiting your past. It's easy for it to become your present.”
― Kyle Higgins, Nightwing, Volume 1: Traps and Trapezes

“secrets are unreliable allies. they allow us to believe we are safr, yet all the while they are destroying us.”
― Deborah Harkness

“What makes a person's words and actions worth remembering are how they are different from everyone else's.”
― Mark Russell, Second Coming

“Sometimes you become so focused on protecting people from danger that you become the danger.”
― Mark Russell, Second Coming #2

“Do not be one of the many who mistakenly believe that the ultimate form of power is independence, Power involves a relationship between people; you will always need others as allies, pawns or even as weak masters who serve as your front. The completely independent man would live in a cabin in the woods--he would have the freedom to come and go as he pleased, but he would have no power. The best you can hope for is that others will grow so dependent on you that you enjoy a kind of reverse independence: Their need for you frees you.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Absence diminishes minor passions and inflames great ones, as the wind douses a candle and fans a fire. La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680 OBSERVANCE”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“In moments of uncertainty and danger, you need to fight this desire to turn inward. Instead, make yourself more accessible, seek out old allies and make new ones, force yourself into more and more different circles. This has been the trick of powerful people for centuries.”
― Robert Greene

“Once you step into a fight that is not of your own choosing, you lose all initiative. The combatants' interests becomes your interests; you become their tool. Learn to control yourself, to restrain your natural tendency to take sides and join the fight. Be friendly and charming to each of the combatants, then step back as they collide. With every battle they grow weaker, while you grow stronger with every battle you avoid.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Weakness is no sin, and can even become a strength if you learn how to play it right.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power