...the safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death. -Voltaire All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God. -Voltaire Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. -Voltaire Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one. -Voltaire Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do. -Voltaire I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it. -Voltaire Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers. -Voltaire Love truth, and pardon error. -Voltaire Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly. -Voltaire Prejudice is opinion without judgement. -Voltaire The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. -Voltaire The way to become boring is to say everything. -Voltaire There is a wide difference between speaking to deceive, and being silent to be impenetrable. -Voltaire Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. -Voltaire Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need. -Voltaire The man who leaves money to charity in his will is only giving away what no longer belongs to him. -Voltaire ************************************************************ Generals ************************************************************ Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. George S. Patton Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate. Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Emptiness and Fullness A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective. Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Strategic Assessments Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Strategic Assessments