I excelled all in influence, although I had no more power than the others who were my colleagues in office.

I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.

The play is over; applaud.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

-- Erasmus

Time is the wisest counsellor of all.

-- Pericles

Among the people there is no possession so esteemed as the state / yet there is no state in this world like one breath of good health.

-- Suleiman the Magnificent

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.

-- Charles V

Never make a defence or apology before you be accused.

-- Charles I of England

The art of love is largely the art of persistence.

-- Albert Ellis