Philip II

"The future is written by those willing to pay the price of certainty."

"To govern is to perpetually balance the demands of the moment against the claims of eternity."

"I have found that silence is often the most eloquent form of authority."

"The man who loves his kingdom must sometimes hate what his kingdom requires."

"I build empires of stone and institutions of law, knowing both shall outlast me."

"A secret between two is no secret; a secret within oneself cannot be denied."

"The darkness of doubt often precedes the light of conviction."

"I have learned that the price of order is eternal and constant vigilance."

"Those who understand power know that its greatest exercise is its restraint."

"To rule effectively, one must learn to distinguish between the urgent and the important."

"The legacy of a king is the peace or turmoil that follows his reign."

"I have found that men respect what they fear, but follow what they trust."

"The divine right to rule carries with it the divine responsibility to serve justly."

"A man who cannot control his own emotions is unfit to control a kingdom."

"I have learned that the greatest power lies in knowing when not to use it."

"The burden of the crown is that it allows for no true friends, only courtiers and rivals."

"To preserve the faith is to preserve the kingdom; to lose one is to lose the other."

"I prefer the company of books to the company of men, for books do not dissemble."

"The man who seeks power for its own sake is already enslaved by it."

"I have built monuments not to myself, but to the permanence of Spanish glory."

"Those who would rule must learn to rule themselves first, and most rigorously."

"The weight of decision never becomes lighter; one merely learns to carry it with better grace."

"I have found that the greatest threats to a kingdom come from within, not without."

"To govern justly is to make decisions that satisfy no one completely, yet all partially."

"The man who never changes his mind has never thought deeply enough."

"I have learned that devotion to duty is the only cure for the despair of power."

"The future belongs to those who can see beyond their own lifetimes."

"To be a king is to be perpetually misunderstood, perpetually mistrusted, perpetually alone."

"I have found that mercy without consequence is merely weakness masquerading as virtue."

"The true strength of a kingdom lies not in its weapons, but in its will."