700 Best Machiavelli Quotes On Leadership (2023)
1. “But while it was their opportunities that made these men fortunate, it was their own merit that enabled them to recognize these opportunities and turn them to account, to the glory and prosperity of their country.”
2. “And truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised or not blamed; but when they cannot, and wish to do it anyway, here lies the error and the blame.”
3. “Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
4. “Men are more ready to offend one who desires to be beloved than one who wishes to be feared.”
5. “Debéis, pues, saber que hay dos formas de combatir: una con las leyes, otra con la fuerza. La primera es propia del hombre, la segunda de las bestias. Pero como muchas veces no basta la primera, conviene recurrir a la segunda.”
6. “... War is the sole art looked for in one who rules...”
7. “For one change always leaves a dovetail into which another will fit.”
8. “The gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation.”
9. “... He who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new... partly from the incredulity of mankind, who will never admit the merit of anything new, until they have seen it proved by the event.”
10. “Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.”
11. “he will see a golden age where each person can hold and defend the opinions that he wishes.”
12. “Puţini văd cum suntem într-adevăr, dar toţi văd ce ne prefacem că suntem.”
13. “One can say this in general of men: they are ungrateful, disloyal, insincere and deceitful, timid of danger and avid of profit...Love is a bond of obligation that these miserable creatures break whenever it suits them to do so; but fear holds them fast by a dread of punishment that never passes.”
14. “All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but in calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”
15. “O maior remédio utilizado contra os desígnios do inimigo é fazeres voluntariamente aquilo que ele planeja que tu faças à força, porque fazendo-o de forma voluntária, tu o fazes com ordem e para vantagem tua e desvantagem dele; se o fizesses à força, seria então a tua ruína.”
16. “I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles.”
17. “Everything that occurs in the world, in every epoch, has something that corresponds to it in ancient times.”
18. “A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate, he will get some tinge of it.”
19. “How one lives is so far distant from how one ought to live, that he who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.”
20. “Men in general judge more with the eye than with the hand, because everyone can see, but few can feel. Everyone sees what you seem to be, but few feel what you are.
21. “In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
22. “En todas las cosas humanas, cuando se examinan de cerca, se demuestra que no pueden apartarse los obstáculos sin que de ellos surjan otros.”
23. “And yet we cannot define as skillful killing one's fellow citizens, betraying one's friends, and showing no loyalty, mercy, or moral obligation. These means can lead to power, but not glory.”
24. “I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.”
25. “Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves”
26. “Men ought to attempt everything and fear nothing.”
27. “In this way you have enemies in all those whom you have injured in seizing that principality, and you are not able to keep those friends who put you there because of your not being able to satisfy them in the way they expected, and you cannot take strong measures against them, feeling bound to them.”
28. “A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.”
29. “For he who quells disorder by a very few signal examples will in the end be more merciful than he who from too great leniency permits things to take their course and so to result in rapine and bloodshed; for these hurt the whole State, whereas the severities of the Prince injure individuals only.”
30. “Así pues, la ofensa que se les infiera ha de ser tal que les inhabilite para vengarse.”
31. “Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
32. “Impetuosity and audacity often achieve what ordinary means fail to achieve.”
33. “Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.”
34. “One can assess a prince’s intelligence by looking at the men with whom he surrounds himself.”
35. “… a prince who wishes to survive must know how to do wrong, and how to do or not do wrong according to necessity.”
36. “War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.”
37. “[...] Porque así como aquellos que dibujan se colocan abajo, en el llano, para considerar la naturaleza de los montes y de los lugares elevados y, para considerar la de los bajos, se colocan en lo alto, sobre los montes, igualmente para conocer bien la naturaleza de los pueblos, es necesario ser príncipe, y para conocer bien la de los príncipes, es necesario ser del pueblo.”
38. “One must consider the final result.”
39. “It is safer to be feared than loved”
40. “para bem conhecer o caráter do povo, é preciso ser príncipe e, para bem entender o do príncipe, é preciso ser do povo.”
41. “for when religion is once established you may readily bring in arms; but where you have arms without religion it is not easy afterwards to bring in religion. We”
42. “A prince need take little account of conspiracies if the people are disposed in his favor.”
43. “… to a Prince who wants to do great things, it is necessary to learn to deceive.”
44. “He who builds on the people, builds on the mud.”
45. “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”
46. “The memory of their former freedom will not let them rest; so that the safest course is either to destroy them, or to go and live in them.”
47. “War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
48. “The wish to acquire is no doubt a natural and common sentiment, and when men attempt things within their power, they will always be praised rather than blamed. But when they persist in attempts that are beyond their power, mishaps and blame ensue.”
49. “Men in general are as much affected by what a thing appears to be as by what it is, indeed they are frequently influenced more by appearances than by reality.”
50. “Politics have no relation to morals.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
51. “There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
52. “He who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against;”
53. “Whence we may draw the general axiom, which never or rarely errs, that he who is the cause of another’s greatness is himself undone, since he must work either by address or force, each of which excites distrust in the person raised to power.”
54. “…it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have described, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have these qualities and always to observe them is dangerous, and that to appear to have them is useful. A prince should appear merciful, faithful, kind, religious, upright, but should be flexible enough to make use of the opposite qualities when it is necessary.”
55. “A prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”
56. “When every province of the world so teems with inhabitants that they can neither subsist where they are nor remove elsewhere, every region being equally crowded and over-peopled, and when human craft and wickedness have reached their highest pitch, it must needs come about that the world will purge herself in one or another of these three ways: floods, plague and famine”
57. “Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
58. “It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones. ”
59. “A prince, therefore, ought always to take counsel.”
60. “in all cities, these two distinct parties are found, and from this it arises that the people do not wish to be ruled nor oppressed by the nobles, and the nobles wish to rule and oppress the people; and from these two opposite desires there arises in cities one of three results, either a principality, self-government, or anarchy. A”
61. “It's better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.”
62. “Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.”
63. “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.”
64. “And although one should not reason about Moses, as he was a mere executor of things that had been ordered for him by God, nonetheless he should be admired if only for that grace which made him deserving of speaking with God. ”
65. “The salvation of a republic or a kingdom is not, therefore, merely to have a prince who governs prudently while he lives, but rather one who organizes the government in such a way that after his death it can be maintained.”
66. “men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves, and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules, wherein they are deceived because they afterward find by experience they have gone from bad to worse.”
67. “God creates men, but they choose each other.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
68. “The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”
69. “In addition, a prince ought to amuse the people with entertainments and ceremonies at appropriate times of the year. And as every city is divided into tradesmen’s organisations or into societies, he ought to respect such groups, and associate with them sometimes. He should show himself to be an example of good behaviour and generosity, but nevertheless, always maintain the awareness of his high rank.”
70. “This is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous.”
71. “Thus it will always happen that the one who is not your friend will demand your neutrality, while the one who is your friend will beg you to declare yourself with arms.”
72. “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
73. “... The armour of others is too wide, or too strait for us; it falls off us, or it weighs us down.”
74. “Li quali modi possono fare acquistare imperio, ma non gloria.”
75. “The Swiss are well armed and very free.”
76. “Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not to suffer.”
77. “Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.”
78. “a los hombres hay que conquistarlos o eliminarlos, porque si se vengan de las ofensas leves, de las graves no pueden; así que la ofensa que se haga al hombre debe ser tal, que le resulte imposible vengarse.”
79. “When you see a Minister thinking more of himself than of you, and in all his actions seeking his own ends, that man can never be a good Minister or one that you can trust. For he who has the charge of the State committed to him, ought not to think of himself, but only of his Prince, and should never bring to the notice of the latter what does not directly concern him.”
80. “Friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured.”
81. “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
82. “It is truly natural and ordinary thing to desire gain; and when those who can succeed attempt it, they will always be praised and not blamed. But if they cannot succeed, yet try anyway, they are guilty of error and are blameworthy.”
83. “A prince ought, above all things, to always try in every action to develop the reputation of being a great and remarkable man.”
84. “All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively."
85. “Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.”
86. “It is better to act and repent, than not to act and repent.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
87. “he wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.”
88. “Do you are laugh because you are successful or because another one is unfortunate?”
89. “In peace one is despoiled by the mercenaries, in war by one's enemies.”
90. “The people, as Cicero says, may be ignorant, but they can recognize the truth and will readily yield when some trustworthy man explains it to them.”
91. “The temper of the multitude is fickle”
92. “Ka mjaft virtyte që të çojnë drejtë greminës dhe vese që të sjellin mirëqënie dhe siguri.”
93. “no principality is secure without having its own forces;”
94. “It is better to act and repent than not to act and regret.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
95. “this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life, and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. And”
96. “Cornelius Tacitus when he says, that “men are readier to pay back injuries than benefits, since to requite a benefit is felt to be a burthen, to return an injury a gain.”
97. “Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
98. “A prince, therefore, ought always to take counsel, but only when he wishes and not when others wish; he ought rather to discourage every one from offering advice unless he asks it; but, however, he ought to be a constant inquirer, and afterwards a patient listener concerning the things of which he inquired; also, on learning that any one, on any consideration, has not told him the truth, he should let his anger be felt.”
99. “As the observance of religious worship is the reason for the greatness of a republic, so the contempt for religious worship is the reason for its ruin.”
100. “the authority that is seized by violence, not that given by votes, harms republics.”
101. “men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation, which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment, which never fails.”
102. “From this one can derive a general rule which rarely, if ever, fails: that anyone who is the cause of another becoming powerful comes to ruin himself; because that power has been brought about by him either through cunning or by force; and both of these two qualities are suspect to the one who has become powerful.”
103. “It was necessary, therefore, to Moses that he should find the people of Israel in Egypt enslaved and oppressed by the Egyptians, in order that they should be disposed to follow him so as to be delivered out of bondage. It was necessary that Romulus should not remain in Alba, and that he should be abandoned at his birth, in order that he should become King of Rome and founder of the fatherland. It”
104. “Going back, then, to the question of being feared or loved, my conclusion is that since people decide for themselves whether to love a ruler or not, while it’s the ruler who decides whether they’re going to fear him, a sensible man will base his power on what he controls, not on what others have freedom to choose. But he must take care, as I said, that people don’t come to hate him.”
105. “In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.”
106. “therefore, who acquires such a State, if he mean to keep it, must see to two things; first, that the blood of the ancient line of Princes be destroyed; second, that no change be made in respect of laws or taxes; for in this way the newly acquired State speedily becomes incorporated with the hereditary.”
107. “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
108. “It is unreasonable to expect that an armed man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should remain safe and secure when his servants are armed.”
109. “a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual only.”
110. “One who begins to live by rapine will always find some reason for taking the goods of others”
111. “It is in the nature of things that every time you try to avoid one danger you run into another. Good sense consists in being able to assess the dangers and choose the lesser of various evils.”
112. “Los hombres ofenden antes al que aman que al que temen.”
113. “It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
114. “é que os homens, com satisfação, mudam de senhor pensando melhorar e esta crença faz com que lancem mão de armas contra o senhor atual, no que se enganam porque, pela própria experiência, percebem mais tarde ter piorado a situação.”
115. “… the best fortress there is, is not to be hated by the people, because although you may have fortresses, if the people hold you in hatred, fortresses do not save you…”
116. “A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
117. “In general you must either pamper people or destroy them; harm them just a little and they’ll hit back; harm them seriously and they won’t be able to. So if you’re going to do people harm, make sure you needn’t worry about their reaction.”
118. “Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.”
119. “Verträge bricht man um des Nutzens willen.”
120. “And what physicians say about consumptive illnesses is applicable here: that at the beginning, such an illness is easy to cure but difficult to diagnose; but as time passes, not having been recognized or treated at the outset, it becomes easy to diagnose but difficult to cure.”
121. “exactly to those paths which others have taken, or attain to the virtues of those whom they would resemble, the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.”
122. “no es victoria verdadera la que se obtiene con armas ajenas.”
123. “One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.”
124. “Knowledge doth come of learning well retained, Unfruitful else,”
125. “There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.”
126. “…a prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers. From the latter he is defended by being well armed and having good allies, and if he is well armed he will have good friends, and affairs will always remain quiet within when they are quiet without, unless they should have been already disturbed by conspiracy…”
127. “Their moral indignation was sometimes feigned, but the Elizabethans’ nearly four hundred references to the Florentine Secretary introduced the derogatory terms ‘Machiavellian’ and ‘Machiavellianism’ into the English language. Some churchmen branded the book the work of the devil and its author an atheist, and Machiavelli’s first name came to be associated with an already popular term for the devil: Old Nick.”
128. “Set down among these lice, this is how I keep the mold from my brain and find release from Fortune's malice. I am content to have her beat me down this way to see if she won't become ashamed.”
129. “And there is nothing wastes so rapidly as liberality, for even whilst you exercise it you lose the power to do so.”
130. “Always assume incompetence before looking for conspiracy.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
131. …he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.
132. “He who builds on the people, builds on the mud”
133. “Though fraud in all other actions be odious, yet in matters of war it is laudable and glorious, and he who overcomes his enemies by stratagem is as much to be praised as he who overcomes them by force.”
134. “Fear is as dangerous an enemy as resentment.”
135. “Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because everybody can see you, but few come in touch with you. Everyone sees what you appear to be, but few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose the opinion of the many…”
136. “Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.”
137. “Quem cria o poder de outrem se arruína, porque tal poder se origina da astúcia ou da força, e ambas são suspeitas a quem se tornou poderoso.”
138. “A sculptor will more easily extract a beautiful statue from a piece of rough marble than from one that has been badly blocked out by someone else.”
139. “...never in peaceful times stand idle..”
140. “And he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it may expect to be destroyed by it, for in rebellion it has always the watchword of liberty and its ancient privileges as a rallying point, which neither time nor benefits will ever cause it to forget.”
141. “Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
142. “He ought to question them upon everything, and listen to their opinions, and afterwards form his own conclusions.”
143. “A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.”
144. “Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
145. “Benefits should be conferred gradually; and in that way they will taste better.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
146. “Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
147. “... On the whole, the best fortress you can have, is in not being hated by your subjects. If they hate you no fortress will save you...”
148. “That deliverance is of no avail which does not depend upon yourself; those only are reliable, certain, and durable that depend upon yourself and your valor.”
149. “Returning to the question of being feared or loved, I conclude that since men love at their own will and fear at the will of the prince, a wise prince must build a foundation on what is his own, and not on what belongs to others.”
150. “Men judge more from appearances than reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration. Everyone sees your exterior, but few can
151. “he who thinks new favours will cause great personages to forget old injuries deceives himself.”
152. “Those who believe that where great personages are concerned new favors cause old injuries to be forgotten deceive themselves.”
153. “The wish to acquire is in truth very natural and common, and men always do so when they can, and for this they will be praised not blamed; but when they cannot do so, yet wish to do so by any means, then there is folly and blame.”
154. “For the friendships which we buy with a price, and do not gain by greatness and nobility of character, though they be fairly earned are not made good, but fail us when we have occasion to use them.”
155. “The nature of man is such that people consider themselves put under an obligation as much by the benefits they confer as by those they receive.”
156. “Os homens são tão simplórios e obedientes às necessidades imediatas que aquele que engana sempre encontrará quem se deixe enganar.”
157. “He said that it always struck him with surprise that while men in buying an earthen or glass vase would sound it first to learn if it were good, yet in choosing a wife they were content with only looking at her.”
158. “Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great. ”
159. “It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.”
160. “… princes ought to leave affairs which may upset some people to the management of others, and keep those which will make people happy in their own hands.”
161. “They are sustained by the ancient institutions of religion, which are so powerful and of such a quality that they keep their princes in power no matter how they act and live their lives.”
162. “It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
163. “How we live is so difference than how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation. The Prince.”
164. “hardly any ruler lives so long as to have time to accustom to right methods a city which has long been accustomed to wrong. Wherefore,”
165. “There is no other way of guarding against adulation, than to make people understand that they will not offend you by speaking the truth. On the other hand, when everyone feels at liberty to tell you the truth, they will be apt to be lacking in respect to you.”
166. “[...T]he ways of God have been manifested beyond example: the sea is divided, the cloud has led the way, the rock has poured forth water, it has rained manna, everything has contributed to your greatness; you ought to do the rest. God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.”
167. “as the physicians say it happens in hectic fever, that in the beginning of the malady it is easy to cure but difficult to detect, but in the course of time, not having been either detected or treated in the beginning, it becomes easy to detect but difficult to cure”
168. “Quod Principi plaevit habet legis vigorem”
169. “And let it here be noted that men are either to be kindly treated, or utterly crushed, since they can revenge lighter injuries, but not graver.”
170. “Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
171. “one change always leaves the toothing for another.”
172. “The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
173. “The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuous in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.”
174. “He, therefore, who acquires such a State, if he mean to keep it, must see to two things; first, that the blood of the ancient line of Princes be destroyed; second, that no change be made in respect of laws or taxes; for in this way the newly acquired State speedily becomes incorporated with the hereditary.”
175. “For since a Prince by birth has fewer occasions and less need to give offence, he ought to be better loved, and will naturally be popular with his subjects unless outrageous vices make him odious.”
176. “good individuals cannot exist without good education, and good education cannot exist without good laws,”
177. “Os homens se esquecem com maior rapidez da morte de um pai que da perda de um patrimônio.”
178. “Men intrinsically do not trust new things that they have not experienced themselves.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
179. “he who has once begun to live by robbery will always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to others;”
180. “Un prince qui n'est pas sage par lui-même ne peut être bien conseillé”
181. “There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling the truth will not offend you.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
182. “Not to extinguish our free will, I hold it to be true that Fortune is the arbiter of one-half of our actions, but that she still leaves us to direct the other half.”
183. “There is nothing as likely to succeed as what the enemy believes you cannot attempt.”
184. “Men are so self-complacent in their own affairs, and so willing to deceive themselves, that they are rescued with difficulty from this pest. If they wish to defend themselves they run the risk of becoming contemptible.”
185. “que el que ayuda a otro a hacerse poderoso causa su propia ruina.”
186. “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”
187. “The wise prince, therefore, has always avoided these arms and turned to his own and has been willing rather to lose with them than to conquer with the others, not deeming that a real victory which is gained with the arms of others.”
188. “The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his capability, is by observing the people he has around him. When they are capable and faithful, he may always be considered wise because he has known how to recognize the capable and to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise, one cannot form a good opinion of him, for the prime error which he made was in choosing them.”
189. “resemblance between Fortune and women and concludes that it is the bold rather than the cautious man that will win and hold them both.”
190. “Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.”
191. “And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things,”
192. “People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge, but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.”
193. “government should be elevated into a living moral force, capable of inspiring the people with a just recognition of the fundamental principles of society;”
194. “There is no avoiding war, it can only be postponed to the advantage of your enemy.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
195. “For this can be said of men in general: that they are ungrateful, fickle, hypocrites and dissemblers, avoiders of dangers, greedy for gain; and while you benefit them, they are entirely yours, offering you their blood, their goods, their life, their children,...when need is far away, but when you actually become needy, they turn away. (translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn)”
196. “No Government should imagine that it can choose perfectly safe courses. It should expect to have to take very doubtful ones because in ordinary affairs one never seeks to avoid one trouble without running into another. Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the character of troubles, and how to choose the lesser evil.”
197. “Men can assist Fortune but not oppose her; they can weave her schemes but they cannot break them.”
198. “How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation.”
199. “As a general thing anyone who is not your friend will advise neutrality while anyone who is your friend will ask you to join him, weapon in hand.”
200. “They were freer than their forefathers in dress and living, and spent more in other kinds of excesses, consuming their time and money in idleness, gaming, and women; their chief aim was to appear well dressed and to speak with wit and acuteness, whilst he who could wound others the most cleverly was thought the wisest.”
201. “an able statesman out of work, like a huge whale, will endeavour to overturn the ship unless he has an empty cask to play with.”
202. “To defeat Fortune, men must anticipate such evils before they arise, and take prudent steps to avoid them. When the waters have already risen, it is too late to build dikes and embankments.”
203. “It is essential that in entering a new province you should have the good will of its inhabitants.”
204. “Fortune . . . shows her power where valour has not prepared to resist her, and thither she turns her forces where she knows that barriers and defences have not been raised to constrain her.”
205. “Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be - and are ruined”
206. “Men are always wicked at bottom unless they are made good by some compulsion.”
207. “Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed ought drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more.”
208. “… a prince ought not to worry about conspiracies when his people have love and respect him. But when the people are hostile to him, and bear hatred towards him, he ought to fear everything and everybody. Well ordered states and wise princes have taken every care to keep the nobles happy, and to keep the people satisfied and contented, for this is one of the most important goals a prince can have.”
209. “for men do easily part with their prince upon hopes of bettering their condition, and that hope provokes them to rebel; but most commonly they are mistaken, and experience tells them their condition is much worse.”
210. “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command”
211. “It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.”
212. “a veces, lo que parece virtud es causa de ruina, y lo que parece vicio solo acaba por traer el bienestar y la seguridad.”
213. “There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.”
214. “E fu di tanta virtù, etiam in privata fortuna, che chi ne scrive, dice: quod nihil illi deerat ad regnandum praeter regnum.”
215. “The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or mixed, are good laws and good arms.”
216. “And the usual course of affairs is that, as soon as a powerful foreigner enters a country, all the subject states are drawn to him, moved by the hatred that they feel against the ruling power.”
217. “Cualquiera que crea que los nuevos beneficios hacen olvidar a los eminentes personajes las antiguas injurias, camina”
218. “A battle that you win cancels all your mistakes.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
219. “Never was anything great achieved without danger.”
220. “Nevertheless, not to extinguish our free will, I hold it to be true that Fortune is the arbiter of one-half of our actions, but that she still leaves us to direct the other half, or perhaps a little less.”
221. “…there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehended; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.”
222. “Un hombre prudente debe discurrir siempre por las vías trazadas por los grandes hombres e imitar a aquellos que han sobresalido extraordinariamente por encima de los demás, con el fin de que, aunque no se alcance su virtud, algo nos quede, sin embargo, de su aroma.”
223. “Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.”
224. “Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.”
225. “An unavoidable war is called justice. When brutality is the only option left it is holy”
226. “Is it better to be loved or feared?”
227. “But when you disarm them, you at once offend them by showing that you distrust them, either for cowardice or for want of loyalty, and either of these opinions breeds hatred against you.”
228. 'Hiçbir şey; kendi gücüne dayanmayan bir iktidarın ünü kadar zayıf ve değişken değildir.”
229. “I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
230. “To govern more securely some Princes have disarmed their subjects...but by disarming, you at once give offence, since you show your subjects that you distrust them, either by doubting their courage, or as doubting their fidelity, each of which imputations begets hatred against you.”
231. “Men are so simple, and governed so absolutely by their present needs, that he who wishes to deceive will never fail in finding willing dupes.”
232. “Ognuno vede quello che tu pari, pochi sentono quello che tu se”
233. “Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.”
234. “And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”
235. “Whenever those states, which have been acquired as stated, have been accustomed to live under their own laws and in freedom, there are three courses for those who wish to hold them: the first is to ruin them, the next is to reside there in person, the third is to permit them to live under their own laws, drawing a tribute, and establishing within it an oligarchy which will keep it friendly to you.”
236. “Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it; or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.”
237. “Men are so thoughtless they’ll opt for a diet that tastes good without realizing there’s a hidden poison in it.”
238. “Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas in antiquity.”
239. “...discontented inhabitants who willingly admit a foreign power either through excessive ambition or through fear, as was the case with the Etolians, who admitted the Romans into Greece. So it was with every province that the Romans entered: they were brought in by the inhabitants themselves.”
240. “he who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined; because that predominancy has been brought about either by astuteness or else by force, and both are distrusted by him who has been raised to power.”
241. “Being feared and not hated go well together, and the prince can always do this if he does not touch the property or the women of his citizens and subjects.”
242. “[T]he Romans, observing troubles from afar, always found remedies for them and never allowed them to develop in order to avoid a war, for they knew that war does not go away, but is merely deferred to the advantage of others.”
243. “I hold strongly to this: that it is better to be impetuous than circumspect; because fortune is a woman and if she is to be submissive it is necessary to beat and coerce her.”
244. “For once problems are recognized ahead of time, they can be easily cured; but if you wait for them to present themselves, the medicine will be too late, for the disease will have become incurable.”
245. “People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.”
246. “Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes but few have the gift of penetration.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
247. “It is a common fault not to anticipate storms when the sea is calm.”
248. “There is in everything a latent evil peculiar to it.”
249. “For, besides what has been said, it should be borne in mind that the temper of the multitude is fickle, and that while it is easy to persuade them of a thing, it is hard to fix them in that persuasion”
250. “for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his
251. “Vale más hacer y arrepentirse, que no hacer y arrepentirse.”
252. “Whoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”
253. “men live peacefully as long as their old way of life is maintained and there is no change in customs.”
254. “Forgiveness proceeds from a generous soul.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
255. “Thus the popes, sometimes in zeal for religion, at others moved by their own ambition, were continually calling in new parties and exciting new disturbances.”
256. “...the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.”
257. “for men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves, and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules: wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards find by experience they have gone from bad to worse.”
258. “… when neither their property nor their honour is threatened, the majority of men live happily, and the prince has only to deal with the ambition of a few, whom he can easily control in many ways.”
259. “He listened to their opinions, stated his own, and supported them with reasons; and from his being constantly occupied with such meditations, it resulted, that when in command no complication could ever present itself with which he was not prepared to deal.”
260. “Women are the most charitable creatures, and the most troublesome. He who shuns women passes up the trouble, but also the benefits. He who puts up with them gains the benefits, but also the trouble. As the saying goes, there's no honey without bees.”
261. “that men, thinking to better their condition, are always ready to change masters, and in this expectation will take up arms against any ruler; wherein they deceive themselves, and find afterwards by experience that they are worse off than before.”
262. “From this arises the following question: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is that one would like to be both the one and the other, but because they are difficult to combine, it is far better to be loved than feared if you cannot be both.”
263. “There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
264. “Injuries, therefore, should be inflicted all at once, that their ill savour being less lasting may the less offend; whereas, benefits should be conferred little by little, that so they may be more fully relished.”
265. “Los hombres rara vez tienen el valor suficiente para ser o extremadamente buenos o extremadamente malos.”
266. “offence, since you show your subjects that you distrust them, either as doubting their courage, or as doubting their fidelity, each of which imputations begets hatred against you.”
267. “Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
268. “My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved.”
269. “I have not found among my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long experience in contemporary affairs and a continual study of antiquity, which, having reflected upon it with great and prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to your Magnificence.”
270. “If his ministers are capable and loyal, people will always reckon a ruler astute, because he was able to recognize their ability and command their loyalty. When they are not, people will always have reason to criticize, because the first mistake the ruler made was in his choice of ministers. Everyone”
271. “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
272. “..it happens in all human affairs that we never seek to escape one mischief without falling into another. Prudence therefore consists in knowing how to distinguish degrees of disadvantage, and in accepting a less evil as a good.”
273. “…he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.”
274. “Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be—and are ruined.”
275. “We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been considered mean; the rest have failed.”
276. “All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”
277. “It is better to be feared than to be loved, if you can not be both”
278. “Politics have no relation to morals.”
279. “It is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.”
280. “Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.”
281. “...against my will, my fate,
282. “It should be borne in mind that there is nothing more difficult to handle, more doubtful of success, and more dangerous to carry through than initiating changes in a state's constitution. The innovator makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old order, and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new.”
283. “takes us the farther distance from the Old World to something new and revolutionary in human thought. That moral center, however, is hard to find with modern eyes. Locating it requires”
284. “Therefore it must be inferred that good counsels, whencesoever they come, are born of the wisdom of the prince, and not the wisdom of the prince from good counsels.”
285. “the best possible fortress is—not to be hated by the people”
286. “at Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts. Imprisoned”
287. “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.”
288. “For he who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new.”
289. “The wish to acquire is in truth very natural and common, and men always do so when they can, and for this they will be praised, not blamed; but when they cannot do so, yet wish to do so by any means, then there is folly and blame.”
290. “It is the nature of men to be bound by the benefits they confer as much as by those they receive.”
291. “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both”
292. “Therefore, a wise prince must think of a method by which his citizens will need the state and himself at all times and in every circumstance. Then they will always be loyal to him.”
293. “The innovator has for enemies all who have done well under the old, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
294. “Machiavelli moralizes on the resemblance between Fortune and women, and concludes that it is the bold rather than the cautious man that will win and hold them both.”
295. “A man who wishes to act entirely in a virtuous way is soon destroyed, [since there is] so much that is evil in the world.”
296. “There is no other way of guarding oneself against flattery than by letting men understand that they will not offend you by speaking the truth; but when everyone can tell you the truth, you lose their respect.”
297. “Nicia: God send him the plague!
298. “And as the observance of religious teaching is the cause of the greatness of republics, similarly, disdain for it is the cause of their ruin. For where the fear of God is lacking, the state must necessarily either come to ruin or be held together by the fear of a prince that will compensate for the lack of religion.”
299. “IT IS customary for such as seek a Prince’s favour, to present themselves before him with those things of theirs which they themselves most value, or in which they perceive him chiefly to delight.”
300. “Wherefore, unless things be put on a sound footing by some one ruler who lives to a very advanced age, or by two virtuous rulers succeeding one another, the city upon their death at once falls back into ruin; or, if it be preserved, must be so by incurring great risks, and at the cost of much blood. For”
301. “el que ayuda a otro a hacerse poderoso causa su propiaruina. Porque es natural que el que se ha vuelto poderoso recele de la misma astucia o de la misma fuerza gracias a las cuales se lo ha ayudado.”
302. “Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved”
303. “A prince, therefore, always ought to take advice, but only when he wishes and not when others wish. He ought to make it clear that he does not want advice unless he asks for it. However, he ought to constantly inquire, and afterwards be a patient listener concerning the things he asked about. Also, on learning that anyone, on any matter, has not told him the truth, he should let his anger be felt.”
304. “One who becomes a prince through the favour of the people ought to keep them friendly, and this he can easily do seeing they only ask not to be oppressed by him.”
305. “For that reason, let a prince have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be praised by everybody because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it; and in the world there are only the vulgar, for the few find a place there only when the many have no ground to rest on.”
306. “And you have to understand this, that a prince, especially a new one, cannot observe all those things for which men are esteemed, being often forced, in order to maintain the state, to act contrary to faith, friendship, humanity, and religion. “ The Prince, XVIII, 5”
307. “Such as they are, its ethics are those of Machiavelli's contemporaries; yet they cannot be said to be out of date so long as the governments of Europe rely on material rather than on moral forces.”
308. “A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance.”
309. “He who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against”
310. “He who becomes a Prince through the favour of the people should always keep on good terms with them; which it is easy for him to do, since all they ask is not to be oppressed”
311. “Moreover, a Republic trusting to her own forces, is with greater difficulty than one which relies on foreign arms brought to yield obedience to a single citizen. Rome and Sparta remained for ages armed and free. The Swiss are at once the best armed and the freest people in the world.”
312. “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognise traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
313. “A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.”
314. “He who becomes a Prince through the favor of the people should always keep on good terms with them; which it is easy for him to do, since all they ask is not to be oppressed.”
315. “Therefore a wise prince ought to adopt such a course that his citizens will always in every sort and kind of circumstance have need of the state and of him, and then he will always find them faithful.”
316. “He who believes that new benefits will cause great personages to forget old injuries is deceived.”
317. “He has only to take care that they do not get hold of too much power and too much authority, and then with his own forces, and with their goodwill, he can easily keep down the more powerful of them, so as to remain entirely master in the country.”
318. “From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. ”
319. “For however strong you may be in respect of your army, it is essential that in entering a new Province you should have the good will of its inhabitants.”
320. “war is not so to be avoided, but is only deferred to your disadvantage”
321. “But in Republics there is a stronger vitality, a fiercer hatred, a keener thirst for revenge. The memory of their former freedom will not let them rest; so that the safest course is either to destroy them, or to go and live in them.”
322. “Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”
323. “The people do not wish to be ruled nor oppressed by the nobles, and the nobles wish to rule and oppress the people.”
324. “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”
325. “One must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves.”
326. “he who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined because that predominance has been brought about either by astuteness or else by force, and both are distrusted by him who has been raised to power.”
327. “... I believe that he will prosper most whose mode of acting best adapts itself to the character of the times; and conversely that he will be unprosperous, with whose mode of acting the times do not accord.”
328. “Never was anything great achieved without danger”
329. “These reflections prompt the question: is it better to be loved rather than feared, or vice versa? The answer is that one would prefer to be both but, since they don’t go together easily, if you have to choose, it’s much safer to be feared than loved. We”
330. “Nevertheless, that our freewill may not be altogether extinguished, I think it may be true that fortune is the ruler of half our actions, but that she allows the other half or a little less to be governed by us.”
331. “He who has relied on Fortune less has maintained his position best.”
332. “The aim of the people is more honest than that of the nobility, the latter desiring to oppress, and the former merely to avoid oppression.”
333. “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”
334. “… above all things, a prince ought to live amongst his people in such a way that no unexpected circumstances, whether of good or evil, shall make him change; because if the necessity for this comes in troubled times, you are too late for harsh measures; and mild ones will not help you, for they will be considered as forced from you, and no one will be under any obligation to you for them.”
335. “The leader should know how to enter into evil when necessity commands.”
336. “But by disarming, you at once give offence, since you show your subjects that you distrust them, either as doubting their courage, or as doubting their fidelity, each of which imputations begets hatred against you.”
337. “Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are accustomed to come before him with such things as they hold most precious, or in which they see him take most delight; whence one often sees horses, arms, cloth of gold, precious stones, and similar ornaments presented to princes, worthy of their greatness.”
338. “In The Prince Machiavelli mounts two distinct lines of intellectual and political attack, one against the baseness of Medicean statecraft, the other against the too-strict Ciceronian conception of politics. Against both traditions, he elaborates a new ‘art of the state’. He openly declares himself to be an expert in this art.”
339. “... If in other respects the old condition of things be continued, and there be no discordance in their customs, men live peaceably with one another...”
340. “There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.”
341. “If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.”
342. “Anyone who believes that new benefits make men of high station forget old injuries deceives himself.”
343. “For, besides what has been said, it should be borne in mind that the temper of the multitude is fickle, and that while it is easy to persuade them of a thing, it is hard to fix them in that persuasion. Wherefore, matters should be so ordered that when men no longer believe of their own accord, they may be compelled to believe by force.”
344. “Just as artists who draw landscapes get down in the valley to study the mountains and go up to the mountains to look down on the valley, so one has to be a prince to get to know the character of a people and a man of the people to know the character of a prince.”
345. “This again results naturally and necessarily from the circumstance that the Prince cannot avoid giving offence to his new subjects, either in respect of the troops he quarters on them, or of some other of the numberless vexations attendant on a new acquisition.”
346. “you ought never to suffer your designs to be crossed in order to avoid war, since war is not so to be avoided, but is only deferred to your disadvantage.”
347. “He was not a scholar, and he did not have the temperament of one who finds knowledge an end in itself.”
348. “it is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.”
349. “He ought to entertain the people with festivals and spectacles at convenient seasons of the year … always maintaining the majesty of his rank, for this he must never consent to abate in anything.”
350. “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
351. “For whoever believes that great advancement and new benefits make men forget old injuries is mistaken.”
352. “One of the best and most efficacious methods for dealing with such a State, is for the Prince who acquires it to go and dwell there in person, since this will tend to make his tenure more secure and lasting.”
353. “pretexts for taking away the property are never wanting; for he who has once begun to live by robbery will always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to others; but”
354. “War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
355. “For, although one may be very strong in armed forces, yet in entering a province one has always need of the goodwill of the natives.”
356. “All the States and Governments by which men are or ever have been ruled, have been and are either Republics or Princedoms.”
357. “You ought never to suffer your designs to be crossed in order to avoid war, since war is not so to be avoided, but is only deferred to your disadvantage.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
358. “He who would foresee what is to happen should look to what has happened: for all that is has its counterpart in time past.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
359. “Men judge more from appearances than reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.
360. “Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.”
361. “Necessity is what impels men to take action, and once necessity is gone, only rot and decay are left”
362. “Prudent men are wont to say--and this not rashly or without good ground--that he who would foresee what has to be should reflect on what has been, for everything that happens in the world at any time has genuine resemblance to what happened in ancient times."
363. “No es preciso que un príncipe posea todas las virtudes citadas, pero es indispensable que aparente poseerlas”
364. “it is better to act and repent than not to act and regret.”
365. “el que engaña con arte halla siempre gente que se deje engañar.”
366. “Todos los Estados bien gobernados y todos los príncipes inteligentes han tenido cuidado de no reducir a la nobleza a la desesperación, ni al pueblo al descontento.”
367. “No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.”
368. “And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things”
369. “It is much safer for the prince to be feared than loved, but he ought to avoid making himself hated.”
370. “The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed,”
371. “Therefore any cruelty has to be executed at once, so that the less it is tasted, the less it offends; while benefits must be dispensed little by little, so that they will be savored all the more.”
372. “the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.”
373. “A wise prince ought to . . . never in peaceful times stand idle, but increase his resources with industry in such a way that they may be available to him in adversity.”
374. “It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
375. “men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot;”
376. “So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil.”
377. “Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
378. “Time sweeps everything along and can bring good as well as evil, evil as well as good.”
379. “... Men are either to be kindly treated, or utterly crushed, since they can revenge lighter injuries, but not graver. Wherefore the injury we to do a man should be of a sort to leave no fear of reprisals.”
380. “Between an armed and an unarmed man no proportion holds, and it is contrary to reason to expect that the armed man should voluntarily submit to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man should stand secure among armed retainers. For with contempt on one side, and distrust on the other, it is impossible that men should work well together.”
381. “For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer. And”
382. “A prince is despised if he is considered changeable, foolish, weak, mean, and uncertain. A prince should avoid these characteristics. In his actions he should try to show greatness, courage, seriousness, and strength. In his private dealings with his subjects he should show that his judgments must be followed, and he should maintain himself with such a reputation that no one can hope either to deceive him or to get round him.”
383. “It is necessary for a prince to have the people friendly.”
384. “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”
385. “• “It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.”
386. “If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
387. “Todos veem o que tu aparentas, poucos sentem aquilo que tu és.”
388. “No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
389. “When brutality is the only option left, it is holy.”
390. “Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it.”
391. “Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.”
392. “For men do harm either out of fear or out of hatred.”
393. “Wherefore, as has already been said, a Prince who is ignorant of military affairs, besides other disadvantages, can neither be respected by his soldiers, nor can he trust them.”
394. “I say that every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency.”
395. “Where the willingness is great the difficulties cannot be great.”
396. “A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways.”
397. “A prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice.”
398. “For a Monarchy readily becomes a Tyranny, an Aristocracy an Oligarchy, while a Democracy tends to degenerate into Anarchy. So that if the founder of a State should establish any one of these three forms of Government, he establishes it for a short time only, since no precaution he may take can prevent it from sliding into its contrary, by reason of the close resemblance which, in this case, the virtue bears to the vice.”
399. “Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
400. “Never was anything great achieved without danger.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
401. “Não se pode definir como virtude a matança dos próprios concidadãos, a traição aos amigos e a demonstração de falta de lealdade, de piedade, de consciência e de ideal moral: Essas práticas podem conquistar o poder ao príncipe, nunca a glória.”
402. “Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.”
403. “it is necessary for you to study; since, then, you have no longer the excuse of illness, take pains to study letters and music, for you see what honour is done to me for the little skill I have. Therefore, my son, if you wish to please me, and to bring success and honour to yourself, do right and study, because others will help you if you help yourself.”
404. “Men intrinsically do not trust new things that they have not experienced themselves.”
405. “Thus it will always happen that he who is not your friend will demand your neutrality, whilst he who is your friend will entreat you to declare yourself with arms.”
406. “... one would like to be both [loved and feared], but as it is difficult to combine both love and fear, if one has to choose between them it is far safer to be feared than loved”
407. “Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be— and are ruined.”
408. “People are so simple, and so subject to present necessities, that anyone who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.”
409. “When fortune wishes to bring mighty events to a successful conclusion, she selects some man of spirit and ability who knows how to seize the opportunity she offers.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
410. “It is a common fault of men not to reckon on storms in fair weather.”
411. “The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
412. “Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.”
413. “men ought ever to desire to be served by one who has reaped experience at the expense of others.”
414. “God is unwilling to do everything Himself, lest He deprive us of our free will and of that portion of glory that belongs to us.”
415. “… a prince should not to turn away from the good if he can avoid doing so, but, if it is truly necessary, then he should know how to set about it.”
416. “In politics there are no perfectly safe courses; prudence consists in choosing the least dangerous ones.”
417. “A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, are no longer in harmony with his ways.”
418. “Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.”
419. “These opportunities, then, gave these men the chance they needed, and their great abilities made them recognize it.”
420. “You can satisfy the people, for their object is more righteous than that of the nobles, the latter wishing to oppress, while the former only desire not to be oppressed.”
421. “No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
422. “cannot be called talent to slay fellow-citizens, to deceive friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; such methods may gain empire, but not glory.”
423. “Dante says: Knowledge doth come of learning well retained, Unfruitful else,”
424. “The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.”
425. “Thus a wise prince will think of ways to keep his citizens of every sort and under every circumstance dependent on the state and on him; and then they will always be trustworthy”
426. “The truth is that Machiavelli did try to obtain a position from the Medici, but he did not write The Prince in order to win their favour. 3 He was hoping to be offered a new post in recognition of his unquestionable competence in the ‘art of the state’ and as a reward for his abilities and impeccable honesty, not as a gift in reward for flattery. As he wrote in the famous letter to Francesco Vettori of 10 December 1513:”
427. “... Physicians tell us of hectic fever, that in its beginning it is easy to cure, but hard to recognize; whereas, after a time, not having been detected and treated at the first, it becomes easy to recognize but impossible to cure. And so it is with State affairs.”
428. “Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it; or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
429. “From this arises an argument: whether it is better to be loved than feared. I reply that one should like to be both one and the other; but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.”
430. “There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
431. “Human nature ruins everything.”
432. “… a prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice, unless by chance he has yielded his affairs entirely to one person who happens to be a very prudent man. In this case indeed he may be well governed, but it would not be for long, because such a governor would in a short time take away his state from him.”
433. “A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one’s own ignorance.”
434. “One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
435. “Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
436. “There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless..”
437. “...Fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.”
438. “The lion cannot defend himself against snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves.”
439. “Men must either be caressed or else destroyed.”
440. “This raises the question whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the contrary. My reply is that I would like to be both but as it is difficult to combine love and fear, if one has to choose between them it is far safer to be feared than loved”
441. “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.”
442. “En general, los hombres juzgan más por los ojos que por la inteligencia, pues todos pueden ver, pero pocos comprenden lo que ven.”
443. “A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others.” – Niccolo Machiavelli (One of the best Niccolo Machiavelli quotes on leadership.)
444. “God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
445. “there are two distinct viewpoints in every republic: that of the populace and that of the elite. All the laws made in order to foster liberty result from the tensions between them,”
446. “Let no man, therefore, lose heart from thinking that he cannot do what others have done before him; for, as I said in my Preface, men are born, and live, and die, always in accordance with the same rules.”
447. “A man who wishes to profess at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good.”
448. “Virtue gives birth to tranquillity, tranquillity to leisure, leisure to disorder, disorder to ruin... and similarly from ruin, order is born, from order virtue, from virtue, glory and good fortune.”
449. “A prince ought also to show himself a patron of ability, and to honour the proficient in every art.”
450. “although crimes may win an empire, they do not win glory.”
451. “For on Cardinal Rohan saying to me that the Italians did not understand war, I replied that the French did not understand politics.”
452. “And again, he need not make himself uneasy at incurring a reproach for those vices without which the state can only be saved with difficulty, for if everything is considered carefully, it will be found that something which looks like virtue, if followed, would be his ruin; whilst something else, which looks like vice, yet followed brings him security and prosperity.”
453. “There is no avoiding war, it can only be postponed to the advantage of your enemy.”
454. “There is nothing as likely to succeed as what the enemy believes you cannot attempt.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
455. “it is far better to earn the confidence of the people than to rely on fortresses.”
456. “Just as the observance of divine worship is the cause of the greatness of republics, so the disregard of divine worship is the cause of their ruin, because where fear of God is lacking, that kingdom must either come to ruin or be sustained through fear of a prince who makes up for the shortcomings in its religion.”
457. “...the scepticism of men, who do not truly believe in new things unless they have actually had personal experience of them.”
458. “Everyone sees what you appear to be; few experience what you really are.”
459. “Most people, on beginning a task which looks fine at first, cannot see the poison that is hidden in it. Therefore, if a prince cannot recognize evils until they are upon him, he is not truly wise; and this insight is given to few.”
460. “… he who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined. This is because that success has been brought about either by cleverness or by force, and both are distrusted by the person who has been raised to power.”
461. “one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries; of more serious ones they cannot, therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”
462. “Skoro potężny cudzoziemiec wkracza do prowincji, natychmiast łączą się z nim wszyscy ci, co są w niej mniej potężni, kierowani zawiścią przeciw potężniejszemu od siebie.”
463. “Appear as you may wish to be.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
464. “And let it be noted that there is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in its success, than to set up as a leader in the introduction of changes.”
465. “Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
466. “Pero un príncipe sabio evitará siempre valerse de unas y de otras y recurrirá a sus propias armas, prefiriendo perder con ellas a ganar con las ajenas.”
467. “If they lacked the opportunity, the strength of their sprit would have been sapped; if they had lacked ability, the opportunity would have been wasted.”
468. “And let it here be noted that men are either to be kindly treated, or utterly crushed, since they can revenge lighter injuries, but not graver. Wherefore the injury we do to a man should be of a sort to leave no fear of reprisals.”
469. “The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.”
470. “… it is impossible for the new prince to avoid the reputation for cruelty. This is because new states are full of dangers.”
471. “above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. Besides,”
472. “A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.”
473. “That defense alone is effectual, sure and durable which depends upon yourself and your own valour.”
474. “Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality, for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done will rather bring about his ruin than his preservation.”
475. “Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
476. “Men injure either from fear or hatred.”
477. “It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity.”
478. “… he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it, because it always has liberty and its ancient rights as a way of uniting a rebellion. Neither time nor benefits will ever cause it to forget these. Whatever you may do to protect against rebellion, the people never forget freedom or their old rights unless they are scattered.
479. “Therefore the best fortress is to be found in the love of the people, for although you may have fortresses they will not save you if you are hated by the people.”
480. “Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not to suffer.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
481. “Concerning this, it should be noted that men must be either caressed or wiped out; because they will avenge minor injuries, but cannot do so for grave ones. Any harm done to a man must be of the kind that removes any fear of revenge.”
482. “It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.”
483. “But in republics there is more vitality, more hatred, and more desire for revenge. The memory of former freedom simply will not leave the people in peace.”
484. “If princes are indeed superior to the people in enacting laws, in organizing civil governments, in setting up new statues and ordinances, then doubtless the people are so superior in maintaining what has been instituted that they increase the glory of those who instituted them.”
485. “Still, to slaughter fellow-citizens, to betray friends, to be devoid of honour, pity, and religion, cannot be counted as merits, for these are means which may lead to power, but which confer no glory.”
486. “difícilmente se conspira contra el que goza de mucha estimación.”
487. “Sono tanto semplici gli uomini, e tanto ubbidiscono alle necessità presenti, che colui che inganna, troverà sempre chi si lascerà ingannare.”
488. “Those princes or republics that wish to maintain their integrity must, above all else, maintain the integrity of their religious ceremonies, and must always hold them in veneration, because there can be no greater indication of the ruin of a state than to see a disregard for its divine worship.”
489. “No proceeding is better than that which you have concealed from the enemy until the time you have executed it. To know how to recognize an opportunity in war, and take it, benefits you more than anything else. Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many. Discipline in war counts more than fury.”
490. “This is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life and children when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you.”
491. “Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed.”
492. “One should bear in mind that there is nothing more difficult to execute, nor more dubious of success, nor more dangerous to administer, than to introduce new political orders. For the one who introduces them has as his enemies all those who profit from the old order, and he has only lukewarm defenders in all those who might profit from the new order.”
493. “One must be a fox in order to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten off wolves. Those who simply act like lions are stupid.”
494. “Never do your enemy a minor injury.”
495. “Such men depend solely upon two very uncertain and unstable things: the will and the Fortune of him who granted them the state. But they do not know how, and are unable, to maintain their position. They do not know how to hold their state, since if men are not of great intelligence and virtue, it is not reasonable that they should know how to command, having always lived as private citizens.”
496. “For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying”
497. “Before all else, be armed.”
498. “Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it; but when they are free to choose and can do just as they please, confusion and disorder become rampant.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
499. “And the usual course of affairs is that, as soon as a powerful foreigner enters a country, all the subject states are drawn to him, moved by the hatred which they feel against the ruling power.”
500. “It is of the greatest important in this world that a man should know himself, and the measure of his own strength and means; and he who knows that he has not a genius for fighting must learn how to govern by the arts of peace.”
501. “Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
502. “The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him; and when they are capable and faithful he may always be considered wise, because he has known how to recognize the capable and to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise one cannot form a good opinion of him, for the prime error which he made was in choosing them.”
503. “And it will always happen that he who is not your friend will invite you to neutrality, while he who is your friend will call on you to declare yourself openly in arms.”
504. “A prince who is free to do as he pleases is unreasonable, and a people that is free to do as it pleases is not wise. If we consider princes restricted by laws and a people bound by laws, we will find greater qualities in the people than in the princes.”
505. “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”
506. “When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
507. “To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people”
508. “Mais comment un prince pourra connaître son ministre, voici un moyen qui ne trompe jamais: quand tu vois le ministre penser plus à soi qu'à toi et que dans toutes les affaires il recherche là-dedans son profit, un tel homme ainsi fait jamais ne sera bon ministre, jamais tu ne te pourras fier à lui.”
509. “question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.”
510. “Así pues, la concepción institucional del poder, la representación, la libertad y el imperio de la ley son los elementos constitutivos de su ideal de vivere civile.”
511. “Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.”
512. “Guerra não se evita, mas se adia em favor de outrem.”
513. “Women are the most charitable creatures, and the most troublesome. He who shuns women passes up the trouble, but also the benefits. He who puts up with them gains the benefits, but also the trouble. As the saying goes, there’s no honey without bees.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
514. “Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
515. “Appear as you may wish to be”
516. “Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”
517. “And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”
518. “He who is the cause of another’s greatness is himself undone, since he must work either by address or force, each of which excites distrust in the person raised to power.”
519. “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
520. “Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts.”
521. “Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations”
522. “if you wish to please me, and to bring success and honour to yourself, do right and study, because others will help you if you help yourself.”
523. “It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.”
524. “moral that it is far better to earn the confidence of the people than to rely on fortresses.”
525. “There is no other way of guarding oneself from flatterers except letting men understand that to tell you the truth does not offend you.”
526. “Any injury we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance.”
527. “The vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be.”
528. “And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.”
529. “Princes should devolve on others those matters that entail responsibility, and reserve to themselves those that relate to grace and favour.”
530. “Half of these aren't even Machiavelli.
531. “… men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”
532. “There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.”
533. “But in republics, there is more vitality, greater hatred, and more desire for vengeance, which will never permit them to allow the memory of their former liberty to rest so that the safest way is to destroy them or to reside there.”
534. “Quod nihil sit tam infirmum aut instaible quam fama potentiae non sua vi nixa.''
535. “The older one gets the more convinced one becomes that his Majesty King Chance does three-quarters of the business of this miserable universe.”
536. “I consider that it is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman, and if you wish to keep her under it is necessary to beat and ill-use her; and it is seen that she allows herself to be mastered by the adventurous rather than by those who go to work more coldly. She is, therefore, always, woman-like, a lover of young men, because they are less cautious, more violent, and with more audacity command her.”
537. “for men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves, and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules: wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards find by experience they have gone from bad to worse. This”
538. “Moreover, no one feels grateful to anyone for those benefits of freedom that all share in common, at least so long as they enjoy them.”
539. “Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”
540. “Concluyo, pues, volvieñdo a lo de ser temido y amado, que, dado que los hombres aman cuando es su voluntad y temen según la voluntad del príncipe, un príncipe sabio debe apoyarse en lo que es suyo y no en lo que es de otros; tan sólo debe ingeniárselas, como he dicho, para evitar el odio.”
541. “...no one should marvel at the ease with which Alexander [the Great] kept possession of Asia, or at the difficulties which others, like Pyrrhus and many more, had in preserving their conquests. The difference does not arise from the greater or lesser ability of the conqueror, but from dissimilarities in the conquered lands.”
542. “They were freer than their forefathers in dress and living, and spent more in other kinds of excesses, consuming their time and money in idleness, gaming, and women; their chief aim was to appear well dressed and to speak with wit and acuteness, whilst he who could wound others the most cleverly was thought the wisest." In”
543. “All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
544. “For one change always leaves the toothing for another.”
545. “Differences between the conduct of the multitude and the conduct of the princes do not derive from differences in their nature, that being the same in both (though if there be some superiority either way, it will be found on the side of the people); rather, they derive from differences in their respect for the laws under which they live.”
546. “Mientras que, en los Estados gobernados por un príncipe asistido por siervos, el príncipe goza de mayor autoridad: porque en toda la provincia no se reconoce soberano sine a él, y si se obedece a otro, a quien además no se tienen particular amor, sólo se lo hace per tratarse de un ministro y magistrado del principe.”
547. “Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
548. “Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious, and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy.”
549. “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men around him.”
550. “What remains to be done must be done by you; since in order not to deprive us of our free will and such share of glory as belongs to us, God will not do everything himself.”
551. “The mercenary captains are either capable men or they are not. If they are, you cannot trust them, because they always want to become more powerful, either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others contrary to your intentions. If the mercenary captain is not skilful, you are ruined in the usual way.”
552. “A prince is also esteemed when he is a true friend and a true enemy.”
553. “Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge. But”
554. “Garde tes amis près de toi, et tes ennemis encore plus près.”
555. “… whoever protects his town well, and has managed the other concerns of his subjects in the way stated above, will never be attacked without great caution. Men are not eager for actions where the difficulties can be clearly seen, and it will be seen to not be an easy thing to attack one who has his town well protected, and who is not hated by his people.”
556. “In the actions of all men, and especially of princes, which it is not wise to challenge, one judges by the result.”
557. “Men are either to be kindly treated, or utterly crushed, since they can revenge lighter injuries, but not graver. Wherefore the injury we do to a man should be of a sort to leave no fear of reprisals.”
558. “The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
559. “Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.”
560. “Let no one contradict my opinion by citing that trite proverb, claiming he who builds upon the people builds upon mud; for that is true when a private citizen makes them his foundation, and allows himself to believe that the common people will free him if he is oppressed by enemies or by the public officials.”
561. “This it happens in affairs of state, for when the evils that arise have been foreseen (which it is only given to a wise man to see), they can be quickly redressed, but when, through not having been foreseen, they have been permitted to grow in a way that every one can see them, there is no longer a remedy.”
562. “Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”
563. “There is a general note to be noted here: People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone else, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.”
564. “But when they had to form a particular judgment on the men of their own party, they recognized their defects, and decided that individually no one of them was deserving of what, collectively, they seemed entitled to; and being ashamed of them, turned to bestow their honours on those who deserved them. Of”
565. “one should not be deterred from improving his possessions for fear lest they be taken away from him or another from opening up trade for fear of taxes;”
566. “Prudence therefore consists in knowing how to distinguish degrees of disadvantage, and in accepting a less evil as a good.”
567. “Armour belonging to someone else either chops off you or weighs you down or is too tight”
568. “Auxiliaries, which are the other kind of most useless soldiers, are employed when a prince calls in other forces to aid and defend him… These soldiers may be useful and good in themselves, but for the person who calls them in they are always disadvantageous, because by losing, a prince is thoroughly defeated, and by winning, a prince becomes under their control.”
569. “The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him.”
570. “And since there are three scales of intelligence, one which understands by itself, a second which understands what is shown it by others, and a third which understands neither by itself nor on the showing of others, the first of which is most excellent, the second good, but the third worthless,”
571. “É necessário a um príncipe saber usar do animal com destreza, dentre todos ele deve escolher a raposa e o leão, pois o leão não pode defender-se de armadilhas, e a raposa é indefesa diante dos lobos; é preciso, pois ser raposa para conhecer as armadilhas e leão para afugentar os lobos - aqueles que simplesmente adotam o leão não entendem do assunto.”
572. “If a prince who is not wise takes advice from more than one person he will always get different bits of advice, and he will not know how to accommodate them. Each of the advisors will think of his own interests and the prince will not know how to control them or to see through them. This is typical, because men will always deceive you, unless they are kept honest by constraint.”
573. “... Men for the most part follow in the footsteps and imitate the actions of others...”
574. “...Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because it belongs to
575. “can satisfy the people, for their object is more righteous than that of the nobles, the latter wishing to oppress, while the former only desire not to be oppressed.”
576. “One should never fall in the belief that you can find someone to pick you up.”
577. “One ought perhaps not to count Moses, as he was a mere executor of the will of God; he must nevertheless be admired, if only for the grace that made him worthy of speaking to God.”
578. “One should never risk one’s whole fortune unless supported by one’s entire forces.”
579. “It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
580. “Machiavelli was undoubtedly a man of great observation, acuteness, and industry; noting with appreciative eye whatever passed before him, and with his supreme literary gift turning it to account in his enforced retirement from affairs.”
581. “Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it; but when they are free to choose and can do just as they please, confusion and disorder become rampant.”
582. “But above all he must refrain from seizing the property of others, because a man is quicker to forget the death of his father than the loss of his patrimony.”
583. “Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas in antiquity.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
584. “Because fear and ove can hardly co exist together,if we must chose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”
585. “Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many.”
586. “Without doubt, princes become great when they overcome difficulties and hurdles put in their path. When fortune wants to advance a new prince... She creates enemies for him, making them launch campaigns against him
587. “… the nature of peoples is variable, and it is easy to persuade them of something, but difficult to keep them in that persuasion.”
588. “He who causes another to become powerful ruins himself, for he brings such a power into being either by design or by force, and both of these elements are suspects to the one whom he has made powerful.”
589. “Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony”
590. “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
591. “There are many who think a wise prince ought, when he has the chance, to foment astutely some enmity, so that by suppressing it he will augment his greatness.”
592. “prudence consists in knowing how to distinguish the character of troubles, and for choice to take the lesser evil.”
593. “The innovator makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old order, and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new.”
594. “A prince is also esteemed when he shows himself a true friend or a true enemy, that is, when, without reservation, he takes his stand with one side or the other. This is always wiser than trying to be neutral, for if two powerful neighbors of yours fall out they are either of such sort that the victor may give you reason to fear him or they are not. In either case it will be better for you to take sides and wage an honest war.”
595. “Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.”
596. “A prince, as I have said before, sooner becomes hated by being rapacious and by interfering with the property and with the women of his subjects, than in any other way. From these, therefore, he should abstain. For so long as neither their property nor their honour is touched, the mass of mankind live contentedly, and the prince has only to cope with the ambition of a few, which can in many ways and easily be kept within bounds.
597. “For Time, driving all things before it, may bring with it evil as well as good.”
598. “As injúrias devem ser cometidas de uma vez só, de modo que, por sua brevidade, ofendam menos ao paladar; ao passo que os benefícios devem ser feitos aos poucos, para que sejam mais bem saboreados.”
599. “When everyone feels free to tell you the truth, respect for you dwindles… A wise prince should take another course: choose wise men for your advisors, and allow only them the liberty of speaking the truth to the prince, and only on matters about which you ask, and nothing else. But you should question them about everything, listen patiently to their opinions, then form your own conclusions later.”
600. “Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
601. “From this a general rule is drawn, which never or rarely fails: that he who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined because that predominance has been brought about either by astuteness or else by force, and both are distrusted by him who has been raised to power.”
602. “and those modes of defence are alone good, certain and lasting, which depend upon yourself and your own worth.”
603. “For love is held by the tie of obligation, which, because men are a sorry breed, is broken on every whisper of private interest; but fear is bound by the apprehension of punishment which never relaxes its grasp.”
604. “God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.”
605. “Her zaman iyi olmaya çalışan biri, iyi olmayan çok sayıda insanın arasında bir yıkıntı olmaya mahkumdur.”
606. “Never do an enemy a small injury.”
607. “And the first cause of your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to acquire a state is to be master of the art.”
608. “It is far safer to be feared than loved”
609. “And it has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain or unstable as fame or power not founded on its own strength.”
610. ...the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.
611. “A Prince should esteem the great, but must not make himself odious to the people.”
612. “I also believe that he who adapts his policies to suit the times will succeed, and he who does not, will fail.”
613. “He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the designer and danger to the building.”
614. “Another difficulty to be added to the one mentioned above is that a state that becomes free creates for itself enemies rather than friends.”
615. “The dictatorship did not elate me, nor did exile depress me.”
616. “Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”
617. “The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.”
618. “...instead of praying for some new holy man to save you, learn the way to Hell in order to steer clear of it yourself.”
619. “And in examining their life and deeds it will be seen that they owed nothing to fortune but the opportunity which gave them matter to be shaped into the form that they thought fit; and without that opportunity their powers would have been wasted, and without their powers the opportunity would have come in vain.”
620. “For a Monarchy readily becomes a Tyranny, an Aristocracy an Oligarchy, while a Democracy tends to degenerate into Anarchy.”
621. “You must know, then, that there are two methods of fighting, the one by law, the other by force: the first method is that of men, the second of beasts; but as the first method is often insufficient, one must have recourse to the second. It is therefore necessary to know well how to use both the beast and the man.”
622. “For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer.”
623. “[O utrzymaniu podbitych prowincji] Zostawić im ich własne prawa, czerpać stamtąd pewne dochody i stworzyć wewnątrz rząd oligarchiczny, który by ci je utrzymał w przyjaźni.”
624. “Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries; of more serious ones they cannot, therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”
625. “A prudent man will always try to follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been truly outstanding, so that, if he is not quite as skillful as they, at least some of their ability may rub off on him.”
626. “In the city of the blind, whoever has one eye is lord.”
627. “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”
628. “When a newly acquired State has been accustomed, as I have said, to live under its own laws and in freedom, there are three methods whereby it may be held. The first is to destroy it; the second, to go and reside there in person; the third, to suffer it to live on under its own laws, subjecting it to a tribute, and entrusting its government to a few of the inhabitants who will keep the rest your friends”
629. “How does one use power to do good, when wielding power requires one to do evil ?”
630. “men, walking almost always in paths beaten by others, and following by imitation their deeds, are yet unable to keep entirely to the ways of others or attain to the power of those they imitate.”
631. “For, besides what has been said, people are fickle by nature: it is easy to convince them of something, but difficult to hold them in that conviction. Therefore, affairs should be managed in such a way that when they no longer believe, they can be made to believe by force.”
632. “Akıllı hükümdar, yurttaşlarını her zaman ve her durumda kendisine muhtaç bırakmalıdır. Onların sürekli bağlılığını sağlayacak tek yol budur.”
633. “This it happens in affairs of state, for when the evils that arise have been foreseen (which it is only given to a wise man to see), they can be quickly redressed, but when, through not having been foreseen, they have been permitted to grow in a way that everyone can see them, there is no longer a remedy.”
634. “The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
635. “When trouble is sensed well in advance it can easily be remedied; if you wait for it to show itself any medicine will be too late because the disease will have become incurable. As the doctors say of a wasting disease, to start with it is easy to cure but difficult to diagnose;after a time, unless it has been diagnosed and treated at the outset, it becomes easy to diagnose but difficult to cure. So it is in politics.”
636. “The nature of men is such that they find themselves obligated as much for the benefits they confer as for those they receive.”
637. “For when you are on the spot, disorders are detected in their beginnings and remedies can be readily applied; but when you are at a distance, they are not heard of until they have gathered strength and the case is past cure.”
638. “Therefore, my son, if you wish to please me, and to bring success and honour to yourself, do right and study, because others will help you if you help yourself.”
639. “si el que construye sobre el pueblo es un príncipe que sabe mandar y es valeroso, que no se amedrenta ante la adversidad, que no carece de otras aptitudes y que con su valor y sus instituciones mantiene despierto el ánimo de todos, nunca se encontrará engañado por el pueblo y se habrá procurado sólidos cimientos.”
640. “...the manner in which we live, and that in which we ought to live, are things so wide asunder, that he who quits the one to betake himself to the other is more likely to destroy than to save himself; since any one who would act up to a perfect standard of goodness in everything, must be ruined among so many who are not good.”
641. “Without an opportunity, their abilities would have been wasted, and without their abilities, the opportunity would have arisen in vain.”
642. “I say, then, that hereditary States, accustomed to the family of their Prince, are maintained with far less difficulty than new States, since all that is required is that the Prince shall not depart from the usages of his ancestors, trusting for the rest to deal with events as they arise.”
643. “Nothing consumes itself so much as generosity, because while you practise it you’re losing the wherewithal to go on practising it.”
644. “No one should ever allow himself to fall down in the belief that someone else will lift him to his feet because it will not happen; or if it does happen it will not prove to his advantage.”
645. “Yet the way men live is so far removed from the way they ought to live that anyone who abandons what is for what should be pursues his downfall rather than his preservation”
646. “But since a Prince should know how to use the beast’s nature wisely, he ought of beasts to choose both the lion and the fox; for the lion cannot guard himself from the toils, nor the fox from wolves. He must therefore be a fox to discern toils, and a lion to drive off wolves.”
647. “A PRINCE, therefore, should have no care or thought but for war, and for the regulations and training it requires, and should apply himself exclusively to this as his peculiar province; for war is the sole art looked for in one who rules, and is of such efficacy that it not merely maintains those who are born Princes, but often enables men to rise to that eminence from a private station;”
648. “it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves.”
649. “... From want of foresight men make changes which relishing well at first do not betray their hidden venom, as I have already observed respecting hectic fever. Nevertheless, the ruler is not truly wise who cannot discern evils before they develop themselves, and this is a faculty given to few.”
650. “We’re all players in a game. You’re a player or a piece on the board, you move or you’re moved. You play the game or the game plays you.”
651. “Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
652. “I certainly think that it is better to be impetuous than cautious, for fortune is a woman, and it is necessary, if you wish to master her, to conquer her by force; and it can be seen that she let's herself be overcome by these rather than by those who proceed coldly. And therefore, like a woman, she is a friend to the young, because they are less cautious, fiercer, and master her with greater audacity”
653. “If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
654. “Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not to suffer.” – Niccolo Machiavelli (This is one of my favorite Niccolo Machiavelli quotes, what’s yours?)
655. “God creates men, but they choose each other.”
656. “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.”
657. “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.”
658. “... By disarming, you at once give offense, since you show your subjects that you distrust them, either as doubting their courage, or as doubting their fidelity, each of which imputations begets hatred against you.”
659. “Es defecto común de los hombres no preocuparse por la tempestad durante la bonanza.”
660. “Because, if one is on the spot, disorders are seen as they spring up, and one can quickly remedy them; but if one is not at hand, they are heard of only when they are great, and then one can no longer remedy them.”
661. “Men are always averse to enterprises in which they foresee difficulties.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
662. “... When Princes devote themselves rather to pleasure than to arms, they lose their dominions.”
663. “De modo geral, os homens julgam mais com os olhos do que com o tato: todos podem ver, mas poucos são capazes de sentir. Todos veem nossa aparência, poucos sentem o que realmente somos [...]”
664. “Należy bowiem pamiętać, że ludzi trzeba albo potraktować łagodnie albo wygubić, gdyż mszczą się za błahe krzywdy, za ciężkie zaś nie mogą. Przeto gdy się krzywdzi człowieka, należy czynić to w ten sposób, aby nie trzeba było obawiać się zemsty.”
665. “I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.”
666. “Always assume incompetence before looking for conspiracy.”
667. “A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one’s own ignorance.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
668. “A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought… but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.”
669. “Concluiré afirmando tan sólo que el príncipe necesita tener al pueblo de su parte; de lo contrario, no tendrá remedio alguno en la adversidad. Nabis, príncipe de los espartanos, resistió el asedio de toda Grecia y de un victoriosísimo ejército romano, y defendió contra todos ellos su patria y su Estado; llegado el peligro le bastó con cuidarse de unos pocos, lo cual no le habría bastado de haber tenido al pueblo como enemigo.”
670. “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
671. “Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.”
672. “The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
673. “A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others.”
674. “Outside of these, he should listen to no one, pursue the thing resolved on, and be steadfast in his resolutions. He who does otherwise is either overthrown by flatterers, or is so often changed by varying opinions that he falls into contempt.”
675. “For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance.”
676. “He [the prince] holds to what is right when he can but knows how to do wrong when he must.”
677. “Alexander never did what he said, Cesare never said what he did.”
678. “… a prince ought to be slow to believe and to act, and should not show fear. He should proceed in a calm manner with care and concern for others, so that too much confidence does not make him careless and too much distrust does not make him always suspicious.”
679. “He who has annexed them, if he wishes to hold them, has only to bear in mind two considerations: the one, that the family of their former lord is extinguished; the other, that neither their laws nor their taxes are altered, so that in a very short time they will become entirely one body with the old principality.”
680. “We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
681. “It's better to be impulsive than cautious; fortune is female and if you want to stay on top of her you have to slap and thrust. You'll see she's more likely to yield that way than to men who go about her coldly. And being a woman she likes her men young, because they're not so cagey, they're wilder and more daring when they master her.”
682. “Men desire novelty to such an extent that those who are doing well wish for a change as much as those who are doing badly.”
683. “do not let our princes accuse fortune for the loss of their principalities after so many years’ possession, but rather their own sloth, because in quiet times they never thought there could be a change (it is a common defect in man not to make any provision in the calm against the tempest), and”
684. “Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.”
685. “Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.”
686. “One Must Be A Fox In Order To Recognize Traps, And A Lion To Frighten Off Wolves”
687. “Those who solely by good fortune become princes from being private citizens have little trouble in rising, but much in keeping atop; they have not any difficulties on the way up because they fly, but they have many when they reach the summit.”
688. “Minds are of three kinds: one is capable of thinking for itself; another is able to understand the thinking of others; and a third can neither think for itself nor understand the thinking of others. The first is of the highest excellence, the second is excellent, and the third is worthless.”
689. “Thus it is well to seem merciful faithful humane religious and upright and also to be so but the mind should remain so balanced that were it needful not to be so you should be able and know how to change to the contrary.”
690. “But when states are acquired in a country differing in language, customs, or laws, there are difficulties, and good fortune and great energy are needed to hold them, and one of the greatest and most real helps would be that he who has acquired them should go and reside there.”
691. “The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
692. “Impetuosity and audacity often achieve what ordinary means fail to achieve.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
693. “when they depend upon their own resources and can employ force, they seldom fail. Hence it comes that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.”
694. “[The prince] ought never, therefore, to have this subject of war out of his thoughts, and in peace he should devote himself more to its exercise than in times of war. He can do this in two ways, by action, and by study.
695. “He who believes that new benefits will cause great persons to forget old injuries is deceived.”
696. “One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
697. “For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
698. “A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
699. “Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”
700. “The Romans recognized potential difficulties in advance and always remedied them in time. They never let problems develop just so they could escape a war, for they knew that such wars cannot be avoided, only postponed to the advantage of others.”