Benedikt

“True character always pierces through in moments of crisis....There are sleepers whose awakening is terrifying”
― Napoléon Bonaparte

“And to me, assuredly, though by no means equal glory attends the narrator and the performer of illustrious deeds, it yet seems in the highest degeee difficult to write the history of great transactions; first, because deeds must be adequately represented by words; and next, because most readers consider that whatever errors you mention with censure, are mentioned through malevolence and envy; while, when you speak of the great virtue and glory of eminent men, every one hears with acquiescence only that which he himself thinks easy to be performed; all beyond his own conception he regards as fictitious and incredible.

(Chapter 3)”
― Sallust, Bellum Catilinae

“Even in agriculture, in navigation, and in architecture, whatever man performs owns the dominion of intellect. Yet many human beings, resigned to sensuality and indolence, uninstructed and unimproved, have passed through life like travelers in a strange country; to whom, certainly, contrary to the intention of nature, the body was a gratification, and the mind a burden.

(Chapter 2)”
― Sallust, Bellum Catilinae

“The renown that riches and beauty confer is fleeting and frail; mental excellence is a splendid and lasting possession.”
― Sallust