Success always calls for greater generosity — though most people, lost in the darkness of their own egos, treat it as an occasion for greater greed. Collecting boot is not an end itself, but only a means for building an empire. Riches would be of little use to us now — except as a means of winning new friends.

As quoted in "9 Timeless Leadership Lessons from Cyrus the Great" at Forbes.com (19 April 2012)