It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all. Following the Equator

Memory is so corrupt that you remember only what you want to; if you want to forget about something, slowly but surely you do. The Post Office Girl 

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Antiquated War Offices, weak, incompetent, or arrogant Commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant Fortune, ugly surprises, awful miscalculations — all take their seats at the Council Board on the morrow of a declaration of war. Never Give In!

The vine bears three bunches of grapes: the first is that of pleasure, the second of drunkenness, the third of violence. Fragment