Gentlemen, despotism never introduces itself without promising great benefits: if it introduced a whip immediately, it would not achieve its ends...

— Justiniano José da Rocha (1811 – 1862), journalist and member of the Brazilian Conservative Party



When I was young, my friend, I did not know how to explain why the elderly were selfish, but now that I am old, I see that they are like that because of the disappointments and ingratitudes they suffer during their lives.