If you want to build a better home, first you must demolish the old one.

The slaves you freed, brutality is all they've ever known. If you want them to know something else, you'll have to show it to them.

Hate's as good a thing as any to keep a person going. Better than most.

Nothing makes the past a sweeter place to visit than the prospect of imminent death.

Don't be upset. Men never crave what they already have.

A wise king knows what he knows and what he doesn't.

— You'll never be as good.
— No. But as long as I'm better than everyone else, it doesn't matter.

The world is overflowing with horrible things. But they're all a tray of cakes next to death.

— You like them both the same? Boys and girls?
— Does that surprise you?
— Everyone has a preference.
— Then everyone is missing half the world's pleasure. The gods made that, and it delights me. The gods made this, and it delights me.

It's tempting to see your enemies as evil, all of them, but there's good and evil on both sides in every war ever fought.

What good is power if you cannot protect the ones you love?

You don't need to make formal alliances with people you trust.