The envious are in pain on all occasions that ought to give them pleasure. As far as this political party was concerned, personalities were of greatest import and then, a poor second, came principles. Even here, the rule was merely expression rather than thought. Not all your heroism, not all your social drive, not all your wit, not all your victories on land or at sea can move back the finger of fate. Today, we maintain ourselves.
Unconscious impulses are usually a better guide to activity than are studied plans.
You walk smoothly when you pay no attention to your movements, but the contemplation of each step leads to stumbling. A great deal of human interaction has been corrupted by pecuniary motives. Since the legal code of a state is applicable to everyone, it can be concerned with only those subjects about which uniformity of control is felt to be desirable. The belief that rulers received their right to rule directly from God was held even in Europe until about the middle of the seventeenth century. It is referred to as the divine right of sovereigns.