Arthur Wellesley

"I have learned that the best strategy is often the most direct one."

"A nation's laws should reflect its values, not its fears."

"The greatest gift a father can give his son is an example of integrity."

"In the end, what matters is not what you have done, but what you have become."

"The time is always right to do what is right."

"Discipline is not punishment; it is the price of freedom."

"A man may as well try to turn the course of the Thames with his bare hands as to stop the progress of human knowledge."

"I used to say of him that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men."

"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest."

"Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won."

"I have always been of the opinion that if you wish to do anything, you should calculate the cost, and consider whether you can afford it."

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

"One should as soon expect to produce vegetation on the surface of a rock as to produce morality on money."

"I always had a repugnance to sitting down in the dirt."

"Better to spend money on learning than on anything else."

"The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."

"A man who passes his time doing nothing is even more contemptible than a failure."

"The secret to my success is that I have never been ashamed to fail."

"Patience is a virtue, but not when it comes to defeating the enemy."

"I have no time for the small concerns of life; great deeds require great focus."

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but action in spite of it."

"A man's true worth is measured by the enemies he has made."

"I have learned that wisdom comes not from years, but from reflection."

"The greatest victories are often won not by the sword, but by strategy."

"One must never shrink from difficult responsibilities."

"I have always believed that hard work beats talent when talent is not working hard."

"The mind is like a muscle; it grows stronger with use."

"A true leader serves his people, not himself."

"I never depended on luck; I prepared thoroughly for every eventuality."

"Time is the most precious resource; waste it not."