Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Quotes
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Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine...We work in the Dark, to serve the Light.
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A son could bear with great complacency, the death of his father, while the loss of his inheritance might drive him to despair.
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There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things..... Whenever his enemies have occasion to attack the innovator they do so with the passion of partisans, while the others defend him sluggishly so that the innovator and his party alike are vulnerable.
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Only those means of security are good, are certain, are lasting, that depend on yourself and your own vigor.
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Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.
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Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
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...it behooves us to adapt oneself to the times if one wants to enjoy continued good fortune.
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A prince is also respected when he is a true friend and a true enemy; that is, when he declares himself on the side of one prince against another without any reservation.
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Human beings remain constant in their methods of conduct.
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Then also pretexts for seizing property are never wanting, and one who begins to live by rapine will always find some reason for taking the goods of others, whereas causes for taking life are rarer and more quickly destroyed.
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How perilous it is to free a people who prefer slavery.
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...people are by nature fickle, and it is easy to persuade them of something, but difficult to keep them persuaded.
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A blast in the human breast is nothing to boast of.
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...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.
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God and nature have thrown all human fortunes into the midst of mankind; and they are thus attainable rather by rapine than by industry, by wicked actions rather than by good. Hence it is that men feed upon each other, and those who cannot defend themselves must be worried.
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The end of the republic is to enervate and to weaken all other bodies so as to increase its own body.
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The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.
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There is nothing as likely to succeed as what the enemy believes you cannot attempt.
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And the prince who has relied solely on their words, without making other preparations, is ruined, for the friendship which is gained by purchase and not through grandeur and nobility of spirit is merited but is not secured, and at times is not to be had.
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There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
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A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.
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One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
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Men nearly always follow the tracks made by others and proceed in their affairs by imitation, even though they cannot entirely keep to the tracks of others or emulate the prowess of their models. So a prudent man should always follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been outstanding.
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It is much better to tempt fortune where it can favor you than to see your certain ruin by not tempting it.