The world is not large enough to have two kings.

All great things arise from small beginnings.

The world is too small to have two kings.

Governance must be clean and transparent.

-- The ruthlessly effective architect of modern Japan who built the Meiji state's institutions while his more charismatic peers took the glory

A general must be cautious in five things: reason, preparation, decisiveness, discipline, and restraint.

-- A 4th-century BCE Chinese general and military the

親賢臣、遠小人、此先漢所以興隆也。親小人、遠賢臣、此後漢所以傾頽也。

-- The legendary chancellor and military strategist of the Shu Han kingdom during China's Three Kingdoms period

The more troops, the better I command them.

-- The greatest military mind of early imperial China, whose campaigns established the Han dynasty (c. 231-196 BCE). Han Xin's tactical innovations — including the legendary 'battle with backs to the river' — demonstrated that battlefield psychology and terrain exploitation could overcome any numerical disadvantage. His reward

Let us put an end to this war. For we know how to win battles but not how to use our victories.

-- The Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps with elephants and brought Rome to its knees

What is won by the sword must be defended by the sword.

-- The Mamluk sultan who stopped the Mongol advance at Ain Jalut