We have more ability than will power, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible. – François de la Rochefoucauld
It is impossible to win gracefully at chess. No man has yet said “Mate!” in a voice which failed to sound to his opponent bitter, boastful and malicious. – A.A. Milne, Not That It Matters, 1919
The two most precious things this side of the grave are our reputation and our life. But it is to be lamented that the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the one, and the weakest weapon of the other. – Charles Caleb Colton