“Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them.”

“If one reads enough books one has a fighting chance. Or better, one's chances of survival increase with each book one reads.”

“The society whose citizens are willing to stand and fight is the one with the best chance of surviving long enough for history to even notice.”

“Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.”

“The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him; and when they are capable and faithful he may always be considered wise, because he has known how to recognize the capable and to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise one cannot form a good opinion of him, for the prime error which he made was in choosing them.”

“The past, for everyone, is full of missed chances, surviving to understand them, if not set them straight, is one of the things that makes the next breath worth taking.”