There is no avoiding war it can only be postponed to the advantage of others. – Niccolo Machiavelli
Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others. – Niccolo Machiavelli
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. – Niccolo Machiavelli
Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions. – Niccolo Machiavelli
I like to walk, touch living Mother Earth—bare feet best, and thrill every step. Used to envy happy reptiles that had advantage of so much body in contact with earth, bosom to bosom. [We] live with our heels as well as head and most of our pleasure comes in that way. – John Muir, quoted in To Yosemite and Beyond: Writings from the Years 1863–