Niccolò Machiavelli Quotes

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.

Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.

It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.

Never was anything great achieved without danger.

Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.

The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.

God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.

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.

Is it better to be loved or feared?

In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.

Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.

... 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

at Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts. Imprisoned

Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts.

Never do an enemy a small injury.

... War is the sole art looked for in one who rules...

... When Princes devote themselves rather to pleasure than to arms, they lose their dominions.

... 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...

A prince need take little account of conspiracies if the people are disposed in his favor.

It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.

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.

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

Armour belonging to someone else either chops off you or weighs you down or is too tight

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.

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.

Without an opportunity, their abilities would have been wasted, and without their abilities, the opportunity would have arisen in vain.

Those who believe that where great personages are concerned new favors cause old injuries to be forgotten deceive themselves.

These opportunities, then, gave these men the chance they needed, and their great abilities made them recognize it.