“The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.”
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

Democracy

The political process…a mere battle of rival rogues. But the mob remains quite free to decide between them.

~ H.L. Mencken Notes On Democracy (1926)

Recommend to your children virtue; that alone can make them happy, not gold.

Ludwig van Beethoven

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

No human investigation can be called real science if it cannot be demonstrated mathematically.

Leonardo da Vinci

Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook and a good digestion. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Get off our backs

We have a choice to make once and for all: between the empire and the spiritual and physical salvation of our people. No road for the people will ever be open unless the government completely gives up control over us or any aspect of our lives. It has led the country into an abyss and it does not know the way out.
~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, as quoted by Pravda (1986)