“People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.”

“For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance.”

“If you have to injure someone, then make it so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.”

“You learn nothing about men by snubbing them and crushing their pride. You must ask them what it is they can do in this world, that they alone can do.”

“If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then someday you can do the things you want do when you want to do them.”

“You accept that people are the way they are. There's nothing you can do about it, exceptlearn ways to minimize the damage they can do to you. It's like rain. We don't feel a need to forgivethe sky for raining on a day when we really wanted sunshine, do we? No. We might be upset anddisappointed, but the need to forgive never enters our mind.”