Morals of the Community

The subjects to which I would ask each of my readers to devote his earnest attention are these: The life and morals of the community; and the men and the qualities by which, through domestic policy and foreign war, dominion was won and extended. Then as the standard of morality gradually lowers, let him follow the decay of the national character, observing how at first it slowly sinks, then slips downward more and more rapidly, and finally begins to plunge into headlong ruin, until he reaches these days, in which we can bear neither our diseases nor their remedies.”
--Titus Livius (Livy)

Quality Faults

“It is not for our faults that we are disliked and even hated, but for our qualities.”
--Bernard Berenson

Use Our Defeats

“We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defeats.”
--Alexis de Tocqueville

Two Timing

“To do two things at once is to do neither.”
--Publilius Syrus