Oliver Cromwell
» Approval » “Do not trust to the cheering, for those persons would shout as much if you and I were going to be hanged.”
» Army and Navy » “I had rather have a plain, russet-coated Captain, that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a Gentle-man and is nothing else.”
» Deception » “Subtlety may deceive you; integrity never will.”
» Getting Ahead » “No man rises so high as he knows not whither he goes.”
» History and Historians » “What is all our histories, but God showing himself, shaking and trampling on everything that he has not planted.”
» Honesty » “A few honest men are better than numbers.”
» Mistakes » “I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken.”
» Necessity » “Necessity has no law.”
» Opportunity » “Make the iron hot by striking it.”
» Parliament » “You have sat too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”
» Portraits » “Mr. Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.”
» Public Office » “The State, in choosing men to serve it, takes no notice of their opinions. If they be willing faithfully to serve it, that satisfies.”
» Self-improvement » “He who stops being better stops being good.”
» Trust » “Put your trust in God and keep your powder dry.”
