Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Quotes
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We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.
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Among other causes of misfortune which your not being armed brings upon you, it makes you despised.
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And here one must not that hatred is acquired just as much by means of good actions as by bad ones; and so, as I said above, if a prince wishes to maintain the state, he is often obliged not to be good; because whenever that group which you believe you need to support you is corrupted, whether it be the common people, the soldiers, or the nobles, it is to your advantage to follow their inclinations in order to satisfy them; and then good actions are your enemy.
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You have to be a prince to understand the people, and you have to belong to the people to understand the princes.
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It is better to be bold than too circumspect, because fortune is of a sex which likes not a tardy wooer and repulses all who are not ardent.
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Men are more ready to offend one who desires to be beloved than one who wishes to be feared.
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Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony...
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The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.
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The nature of man is such that people consider themselves put under an obligation as much by the benefits they confer as by those they receive.
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It makes him hated above all things, as I have said, to be rapacious, and to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain.
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Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.
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Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself.
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In the armies and among every ten men there is one of more life, of more heart, or at least of more authority, who with his courage, with words and by example keeps the others firm and disposed to fight.
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One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.
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Never do an enemy a small injury.
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He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
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All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.
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And above all you ought to guard against leading an army to fight which is afraid or which is not confident of victory. For the greatest sign of an impending loss is when one does not believe one can win.
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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.
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The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
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With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.
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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.
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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.
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God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.