A thousand years may scare form a state. An hour may lay it in ruins. – Lord (George Gordon) Byron

An empire is an immense egotism. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sovereignty over any foreign land is insecure. – Seneca (Seneca the Elder)

The reluctant obedience of distant provinces generally costs more than it The Territory is worth. Empires which branch out widely are often more flourishing for a little timely pruning. – Thomas Babington Macaulay