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That prince is highly esteemed who conveys this impression of himself, and he who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against; for, provided it is well known that he is an excellent man and revered by his people, he can only be attacked with difficulty.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
In truth, there never was any remarkable lawgiver amongst any people who did not resort to divine authority, as otherwise his laws would not have been accepted by the people; for there are many good laws, the importance of which is known to be the sagacious lawgiver, but the reasons for which are not sufficiently evident to enable him to persuade others to submit to them; and therefore do wise men, for the purpose of removing this difficulty, resort to divine authority.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Necessities can be many, but the one that is stronger is that which constrains you to win or to die.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
A son could bear with great complacency, the death of his father, while the loss of his inheritance might drive him to despair.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
If the course of human affairs be considered, it will be seen that many things arise against which heaven does not allow us to guard.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Men as a whole judge more with their eyes than with their hands.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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Men are able to assist fortune but not to thwart her. They can weave her designs, but they cannot destroy them.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Good order makes men bold, and confusion, cowards.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
War is a profession by which a man cannot live honorably; an employment by which the soldier, if he would reap any profit, is obliged to be false, rapacious, and cruel.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
From the latter he is defended by being well armed and having good allies, and if he is well armed he will have good friends, and affairs will always remain quiet within when they are quiet without, unless they should have been already disturbed by conspiracy; and even should affairs outside be disturbed, if he has carried out his preparations and has lived as I have said, as long as he does not despair, he will resist every attack.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Every little advantage is of great moment when men have to come to blows.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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So long as the great majority of men are not deprived of either property or honor, they are satisfied.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
You do not know the unfathomable cowardice of humanity...servile in the face of force, pitiless in the face of weakness, implacable before blunders, indulgent before crimes...and patient to the point of martyrdom before all the violences of bold despotism.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
To keep your actions and your plans secret always has been a very good thing . .. Marcus Crassus said to one who asked him when he was going to move the army: 'Do you believe that you will be the only one not to hear the trumpet?
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli