The characteristic danger of great nations, like the Romans or the English which have a long history of continuous creation, is that they may at last fail from not comprehending the great institutions which they have created
Most men of business think "Anyhow this system will probably last my time. It has gone on a long time, and is likely to go on still.
So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism - despotism during the campaign - is indispensable.
No great work has ever been produced except after a long interval of still and musing meditation.
So long as there are earnest believers in the world, they will always wish to punish opinions, even if their judgment tells them it is unwise and their conscience that it is wrong.