Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.

One should never permit a disorder to persist in order to avoid a war, for wars cannot be avoided and can only be deferred to the advantage of others.

Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.

With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.

He who has once begun to live by rapine always finds reasons for taking what is not his.

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

There should be many judges, for few will always do the will of few.

He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.

The world has always been the same; and there is always as much good fortune as bad in it.

Fear is secured by a dread of punishment.

Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.

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.

To be feared is much safer then to be loved.

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.

To ensure victory the troops must have confidence in themselves as well as in their commanders.

Republics have a longer life and enjoy better fortune than principalities, because they can profit by their greater internal diversity. They are the better able to meet emergencies.

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.

Never lead your soldiers to battle if you have not first confirmed their spirit and known them to be without fear and ordered; and never test them except when you see that they hope to win.

The forces of adversaries are more diminished by the loss of those who flee than of those who are killed.

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 architect and danger to the building.

In war, discipline can do more than fury.

A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers.

Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.

Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.

It has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain as fame or power not founded on its own strength.

Change has no constituency.

It is a foolish prince who entrusts the safety of his lands to hired men.

The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.

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.

The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.

Necessities can be many, but the one that is stronger is that which constrains you to win or to die.

Speaking generally, men are ungrateful, fickle, hypocritical, fearful odanger and covetous ogain.

One should never allow chaos to develop in order to avoid going to war, because one does not avoid a war but instead puts it off to his disadvantage

When every province of the world so teems with inhabitants that they can neither subsist where they are nor remove themselves elsewhere.

States that rise quickly, just as all the other things of nature that are born and grow rapidly, cannot have roots and ramifications; the first bad weather kills them

And if, to be sure, sometimes you need to conceal a fact with words, do it in such a way that it does not become known, or, if it does become known, that you have a ready and quick defense.

Men are always averse to enterprises in which they foresee difficulties.

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.

War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.

....for friendships that are acquired by a price and not by greatness and nobility of character are purchased but are not owned, and at the proper moment they cannot be spent.

(A ruler) cannot and should not keep his word when to do so would go against his interests or when the reason he pledged it no longer holds.

He who builds on the people, builds on the mud

By the delusions of seeming good the people are often misled to desire their own ruin; and they are frequently influenced by great hopes and brave promises.

Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.

You have to be a prince to understand the people, and you have to belong to the people to understand the princes.

A prince who is not himself wise cannot be wisely advised. . . . Good advice depends on the shrewdness of the prince who seeks it, and not the shrewdness of the prince on good advice.

Prudence therefore consists in knowing how to distinguish degrees of disadvantage.

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.

When settling disputes between his subjects, he should ensure that his judgement is irrevocable; and he should be so regarded that no one ever dreams of trying to deceive or trick him.

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.