The finest virtues can become deformed with age. The precise mind becomes finicky; the thrifty man, miserly; the cautious man, timorous; the man of imagination, fanciful. Even perseverance ends up in a sort of stupidity. Just as, on the other hand, being too willing to understand too many opinions, too diverse ways of seeing, constancy is lost and the mind goes astray in a restless fickleness. Reflections on Literature and Morality

"If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?" The Analects of Confucius

When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move. The Art Of War

He who wills believes with a fair amount of certainty that will and action are somehow one; he ascribes the success, the carrying out of the willing, to the will itself, and thereby enjoys an increase of the sensation of power which accompanies all success. Beyond Good and Evil