He has an oar in every man's boat, and a finger in every pie. Don Quixote

The teacher reminded us that Rome's liberties were not auctioned off in a day, but were bought slowly, gradually, furtively, little by little; first with a little corn and oil for the exceedingly poor and wretched, later with corn and oil for voters who were not quite so poor, later still with corn and oil for pretty much every man that had a vote to sell--exactly our own history over again. Purchasing Civic Virtue

This monster of a land, this mightiest of nations, this spawn of the future, turns out to be the macrocosm of microcosm me. Travels with Charley: In Search of America

“And there is nothing wastes so rapidly as liberality, for even whilst you exercise it you lose the power to do so.” The Prince