A man, without force, is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so constituted that it cannot honor a helpless man, although it can pity him; and even this it cannot do long if the signs of power do not arise.

—Frederick Douglass

Before anything else you must lose your fear – of death, of the consequences of a bold maneuver, of other people’s opinions of you. That single moment will suddenly open up vistas of possibilities.

—Robert Greene