“I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself.”
— Peter the Great
Attributed to Peter the Great in various historical accounts. He transformed Russia but acknowledged his inability to control his own temper and excesses.
I built a navy from nothing, forced noblemen to shave their beards, dragged Russia into the modern age. At Narva in 1700 Sweden destroyed my army. I rebuilt every regiment from scratch. Nine years later at Poltava I crushed them. And yet, when I look honestly at myself, my rage, my excess, my inability to restrain what burns inside me, I see a man still unfinished. You can conquer every obstacle in your path. But the greatest conquest, the one that never ends, is yourself.