Niccolo Machiavelli

“Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“Never was anything great achieved without danger.”

“So in all human affairs one notices, if one examines them closely, that it is impossible to remove one inconvenience without another emerging.”

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

“The people resemble a wild beast, which, naturally fierce and accustomed to live in the woods, has been brought up, as it were, in a prison and in servitude, and having by accident got its liberty, not being accustomed to search for its food, and not knowing where to conceal itself, easily becomes the prey of the first who seeks to incarcerate it again.”

“A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.”

“It is enough to ask somebody for his weapons without saying 'I want to kill you with them', because when you have his weapons in hand, you can satisfy your desire.”

“The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

“When Scipio became consul and was keen on getting the province of Africa, promising that Carthage should be completely destroyed, and the senate would not agree to this because Fabius Maximus was against it, he threatened to appeal to the people, for he knew full well how pleasing such projects are to the populace.”

“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.”

“The end of the republic is to enervate and to weaken all other bodies so as to increase its own body.”

“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.”

“Cunning and deceit will every time serve a man better than force to rise from a base condition to great fortune.”

“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”

“I assert once again as a truth to which history as a whole bears witness that men may second their fortune, but cannot oppose it; that they may weave its warp, but cannot break it. Yet they should never give up, because there is always hope, though they know not the end and more towards it along roads which cross one another and as yet are unexplored; and since there is hope, they should not despair, no matter what fortune brings or in what travail they find themselves.”

“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.”

“This return of Republics back to their principles also results from the simple virtue of one man, without depending on any law that excites him to any execution: none the less, they are of such influence and example that good men desire to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life contrary to those examples.”

“A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.”

“It is not titles that make men illustrious, but men who make titles illustrious.”

“One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.”

“I believe that it is possible for one to praise, without concern, any man after he is dead since every reason and supervision for adulation is lacking.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

“Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.”

“Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.”

“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.”

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

“Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.”

“A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.”

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

“The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.”

“It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.”

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”

“No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.”

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

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

“Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.”

“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.”

“The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

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

“One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”

“A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.”

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

“One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.”

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

“Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.”

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”

“It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.”

“The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.”

“It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.”

“One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.”

“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.”

“Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.”

“Never was anything great achieved without danger.”

“Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.”

“Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.”

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

“It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.”

“Before all else, be armed.”

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

“I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.”

“Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.”

“No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.”

“Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.”

“Benefits should be conferred gradually; and in that way they will taste better.”

“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.”

“In judging policies we should consider the results that have been achieved through them rather than the means by which they have been executed.”

“We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.”

“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.”

“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.”

“If someone puts up the argument that King Louis gave the Romagna to Pope Alexander, and the kingdom of Naples to Spain, in order to avoid a war, I would answer as I did before: that you should never let things get out of hand in order to avoid war. You don't avoid such a war, you merely postpone it, to your own disadvantage.”

“The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.”

“Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed.”

“Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.”

“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, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws.”

“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.”

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

“For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.”

“Because there is nothing proportionate between the armed and the unarmed; and it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man should be secure among armed servants. Because, there being in the one disdain and in the other suspicion, it is not possible for them to work well together.”

“Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.”

“And therefore a prince who does not understand the art of war, over and above the other misfortunes already mentioned, cannot be respected by his soldiers, nor can he rely on them. He ought never, therefore, to have out of his thoughts this subject of war, and in peace he should addict himself more to its exercise than in war; this he can do in two ways, the one by action, the other by study.”

“The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.”

“A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.”

“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.”

“It is easier for the prince to make friends of those men who were contented under the former government, and are therefore his enemies, than of those who, being discontented with it, were favourable to him and encouraged him to seize it.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Politics have no relation to morals.”

“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. (as translated by W. K. Marriott)”

“If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.”

“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.”

“There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.”

“A prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice.”

“He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.”