Niccolo Machiavelli
I am firmly convinced, therefore, that to set up a republic which is to last a long time, the way to set about it is to constitute it as Sparta and Venice were constituted; to place it in a strong position, and so to fortify it that no one will dream of taking it by a sudden assault; and, on the other hand, not to make it so large as to appear formidable to its neighbors. It should in this way be able to enjoy its form of government for a long time. For war is made on a commonwealth for two reasons: to subjugate it, and for fear of being subjugated by it.Collection: Dream
And if such malignity is hidden for a time, it proceeds from the unknown reason that would not be known because the experience of the contrary had not been seen, but time, which is said to be the father of every truth, will cause it to be discovered.Collection: Art
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. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.Collection: Believe
Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimonyCollection: Death
All the armed prophets conquered; all the unarmed ones perished.Collection: Clarity
When evening comes, I return home and go into my study. On the threshold I strip off my muddy, sweaty clothes of everyday, and put on the robes of court and palace, and in this graver dress I enter the antique courts of the ancients and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death; I pass indeed into their world.Collection: Home
Nothing feeds upon itself as liberality does.Collection: Doe
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.Collection: War
Fear is secured by a dread of punishment.Collection: Fear
Results are often obtained by impetuosity and daring which could never have been obtained by ordinary methods.Collection: Success
Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.Collection: War
In war, discipline can do more than fury.Collection: Art
It is often found that modesty and humility not only do no good, but are positively hurtful, when they are shown to the arrogant who have taken up a prejudice against you, either from envy or from any other cause.Collection: Taken
The peasant wants only to be left alone to prosper in peace.Collection: Want
Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.Collection: Men
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.Collection: Wise
Men seldom rise from low condition to high rank without employing either force or fraud, unless that rank should be attained either by gift or inheritance.Collection: Power
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.Collection: Men
One must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolvesCollection: Lions
Knowing how to fight made men more bold, because no one fears doing what it seems to him he has learned to do. Therefore, the ancients wanted their citizens to be trained in every warlike action.Collection: Art
Men are always wicked at bottom unless they are made good by some compulsion.Collection: Men
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.Collection: Different
A prince... must learn from the fox and the lion... One must be a fox in order to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten off wolves. Those who act simply as lions are stupid. So it follows that a prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honour his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist.Collection: Art
One can make this generalization about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours. They would shed their blood for you, risk their property, their lives, their children, so long, as I said above, as danger is remote; but when you are in danger they turn against you.Collection: Children
He who desires or attempts to reform the government of a state and wishes to have it accepted, must at least retain the semblance of the old forms; so that it may seem to the people that there has been no change in the institutions, even though in fact they are entirely different from the old ones. For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities.Collection: Reality
I hold it to be a proof of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words toward anyone, for neither diminishes the strength of the enemy.Collection: Men
There is nothing so difficult or so dangerous as to undertake to change the order of things.Collection: Order
A battle that you win cancels any other bad action of yours. In the same way, by losing one, all the good things worked by you before become vain.Collection: Art
Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine...We work in the Dark, to serve the Light.Collection: Dark
It is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman.Collection: Adventurous
I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself.Collection: Revenge
He who builds on the people, builds on the mudCollection: People
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.Collection: Art Of War
Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself.Collection: Powerful
When you disarm your subjects, however, you offend them by showing that either from cowardliness or lack of faith, you distrust them; and either conclusion will induce them to hate you.Collection: Hate
An armed republic submits less easily to the rule of one of its citizens than a republic armed by foreign forces. Rome and Sparta were for many centuries well armed and free. The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom. Among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible. It is not reasonable to suppose that one who is armed will obey willingly one who is unarmed; or that any unarmed man will remain safe among armed servants.Collection: Men
Few men are brave by nature, but good discipline and experience make many so.Collection: Art
Appear as you may wish to beCollection: Wish
There should be many judges, for few will always do the will of few.Collection: Judging
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.Collection: Submissive
There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not. It is simply 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.Collection: Art
Cruelties should be committed all at once.Collection: Should
It is a foolish prince who entrusts the safety of his lands to hired men.Collection: Men
For the mob is always impressed by appearances and by results, and the world is composed of the mob.Collection: World
....nothing is so unhealthy or unstable as the reputation for power that is not based on one's own power.Collection: Politics
The greatest remedy that is used against a plan of the enemy is to do voluntarily what he plans that you do by force.Collection: Art
There are three kinds of minds: first those that attain insight and understanding of things by their own means, then those that recognize what is right when others explain it to them, and finally those that are capable of neither one nor the other.Collection: Mean
The reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order.Collection: Change
Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.Collection: Men