Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Quotes
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....nothing is so unhealthy or unstable as the reputation for power that is not based on one's own power.
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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.
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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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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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As the observance of divine institutions is the cause of the greatness of republics, so the disregard of them produces their ruin; for where the fear of God is wanting, there the country will come to ruin, unless it be sustained the fear of the prince, which temporarily supply the want of religion.
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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.
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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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How perilous it is to free a people who prefer slavery.
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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.
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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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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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Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.
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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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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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It makes him contemptible to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate, mean-spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should guard himself as from a rock; and he should endeavour to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity, and fortitude; and in his private dealings with his subjects let him show that his judgments are irrevocable, and maintain himself in such reputation that no one can hope either to deceive him or to get round him.
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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.
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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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One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
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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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Results are often obtained by impetuosity and daring which could never have been obtained by ordinary methods.
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Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.
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Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them.
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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.
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Change has no constituency.