It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

Men trust their ears less than their eyes.

The secret of success is that it is not the absence of failure, but the absence of envy.

Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have laid dormant in its absence.

In peace sons bury fathers, but war violates the order of nature, and fathers bury sons.

Egypt is the gift of the Nile.

Where wisdom is called for, force is of little use.

Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.

It is better to be envied than pitied.

All of life is action and passion, and not to be involved in the actions and passions of your time is to risk having not really lived at all.

Sono dovuta annegare migliaia di volte prima di risalire in superficie.

Sorry. Sometimes my mouth engages before making contact with my brain.

The day of battle dawned pink as the fresh-bitten thigh of a maiden.

I love the start of autumn when the trees in my garden change the colour of their leaves in one last dazzling display.

Better a false belief than no belief at all.

I am probably the biggest equity investor in the history of modern Russia.

A madman's ravings are absurd in relation to the situation in which he finds himself, but not in relation to his madness.

Most people who are writers go through periods when they can't write.

forgive yourself for what you aren't able to do, the ones who aren't able to acknowledge their ownselves are bound to fail

I'm not a media darling. I'm not on the cover of all these magazines. I just quietly do my thing.