"Men are always averse to new things, and it is very hard to persuade them to change."

"The people, when they are not restrained by fear, are always ready to commit every kind of excess."

"It is a common error among men to believe that the shortest way to conquer a thing is to try to obtain it by force."

"Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them, they take vengeance, whereas if you wound them incurably, they are unable to do so."

"For it can be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, fickle, feigners and dissemblers, shirkers of dangers, eager for gain."