“No one ever saw Cato change, no matter how often the state changed: he kept himself the same in all circumstances—in the praetorship, in defeat, under accusation, in his province, on the platform, in the army, in death.”

“If you kept changing the way people saw the world, you ended up changing the way you saw yourself.”

“Muslim spokesmen, no matter what political platform they use, have levelled the same sort of accusations… It is the Pirpur Report of the Muslim League, all over again.”

“Each one fashions and bears his world with him, and that unless he himself become wise, strong and loving, no change in his circumstances can make him rich or free or happy.”

“You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude”

“You see that man can endure toil: Cato, on foot, led an army through African deserts. You see that thirst can be endured: he marched over sun-baked hills, dragging the remains of a beaten army and with no train of supplies, undergoing lack of water and wearing a heavy suit of armour; always the last to drink of the few springs which they chanced to find. You see that honour, and dishonour too, can be despised: for they report that on the very day when Cato was defeated at the elections, he played a game of ball. You see also that man can be free from fear of those above him in rank: for Cato attacked Caesar and Pompey simultaneously, at a time when none dared fall foul of the one without endeavouring to oblige the other. You see that death can be scorned as well as exile: Cato inflicted exile upon himself and finally death, and war all the while.”

“All the same we take our chances,
Laughed at by time, tricked by circumstances,
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,
The more that things change, the more they stay the same.
-- Circumstances (1978)”

“He saw much good in inherited institutions, and yet, at the same time, he also saw the desirability and necessity of change.”

“Reality is harsh. It can be cruel and ugly. Yet no matter how much we grieve over our environment and circumstances nothing will change. What is important is not to be defeated, to forge ahead bravely. If we do this, a path will open before us.”

“Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of circumstances, are often justifiable.”