We make ourselves a ladder out of our vices if we trample the vices themselves underfoot.

A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all - that is myself.

The cyclone derives its powers from a calm center. So does a person.

Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control - these three alone lead to power

One of the most essential yet the hardest truths that I have had to learn, is that every person should be his own hardest task-master.

Advise the ruler to govern the state as one cooks a small fish - that is, don't turn it so often in the pan that it disintegrates

And real nobility (that of the heart) is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference.

A victim is in a position of weakness and subject to the whims of others. Heroes are people who determine their own fate and their own future. A victim had nothing to give and no choice to make. A hero has the strength and ability to be generous and forgiving and the power and freedom that come from being able to make the choice of forgiveness.

Martin Luther claimed that he "never did anything well until his wrath was excited, and then he could do anything well.

Can this be right? An angry leader? Indeed, Jesus had this quality, and when we use it rightly, we follow Him.

But does that mean that war and violence are inevitable? I would argue not because we have also evolved this amazingly sophisticated intellect, and we are capable of controlling our innate behavior a lot of the time.

The violent rioting that is sometimes now being called protesting - it makes the emotions so high that you almost cannot see the insults and injuries that are the people are suffering.