Think Like a Conqueror

One does not always do the best there is. One does the best one can.”

- Catherine the Great

The Art of War author Sun Tzu tells us to “ponder and deliberate before you make a move,” but Julius Caesar might have countered with, “act first, ask questions later.”

Alexander the Great styled himself a divine son of Zeus,

Empress Wu Zetian of China

Genghis Kahn framed himself as something akin to a natural disaster, claiming, “I am the punishment of god.”

Though the couple eventually produced a legal heir, a son Paul in 1754,

well as the most important skillset required of an 18th century princess: etiquette, decorum, and all the refined social attainments needed to navigate the complex social circuit of ballrooms and operas

She was born Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst in Germany (more correctly, in the kingdom of Prussia), and was rechristened Catherine in 1744, when she converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity at 14.

The greatest and truest ideas will only ever have value when applied, and applied skillfully.

could include our own weaknesses and fears. When we take our fate into our own hands, when we claim territory beyond our limits, and when we defeat those things that stand in the way of what we most yearn for, then we are conquerors.