A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.

Source: Demosthenes, Third Olynthiac (349 BC), as quoted in The Routledge Dictionary of Quotations (1987) by Robert Andrews. Variant: (As translated by Charles Rann Kennedy (1852)): The easiest thing in the world is self-deceit; for every man believes what he wishes, though the reality is often different.

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great achievements.

Source: Demosthenes: Ad Leptinum 162, as quoted in Dictionary of Quotations (Classical) (1897) by Thomas Benfield Harbottle, page: 511. Complete Quote: No man can tell what the future may bring forth, and small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.