In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer -- the wealth, prestige and grandeur that went with the power.
Source: Quoted in: Peter Vansittart, Voices 1870 --1914, Introduction (1984).
-- A J P Taylor, (Mar 25 1906-1990), English historian; Alan John Percivale Taylor wrote English History, 1914-1945 and The Origins of the Second World War, 1961.