Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Quotes
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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.
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Every little advantage is of great moment when men have to come to blows.
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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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If the chief party, whether it be the people, or the army, or the nobility, which you think most useful and of most consequence to you for the conservation of your dignity, be corrupt, you must follow their humor and indulge them, and in that case honesty and virtue are pernicious.
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There is nothing that Nature seems to have inclined us to as much as society.
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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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Necessities can be many, but the one that is stronger is that which constrains you to win or to die.
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Although deceit is detestable in all other things, yet in the conduct of war it is laudable and honorable; and a commander who vanquishes an enemy by stratagem is equally praised with one who gains victory by force.
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By the delusions of seeming good the people are often misled to desire their own ruin; and they are frequently influenced by great hopes and brave promises.
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He who has annexed them, if he wishes to hold them, has only to bear in mind two considerations: the one, that the family of their former lord is extinguished; the other, that neither their laws nor their taxes are altered, so that in a very short time they will become entirely one body with the old principality.
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You must never believe that the enemy does not know how to conduct his own affairs. Indeed, if you want to be deceived less and want to bear less danger, the more the enemy is weak or the less the enemy is cautious, so much more must you esteem him.
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No one should therefore fear that he cannot accomplish what others have accomplished, for, men are born, live, and die in quite the same way they always have.
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We must bear in mind, then, that there is nothing more difficult and dangerous, or more doubtful of success, than an attempt to introduce a new order of things in any state. For the innovator has for enemies all those who derived advantages from the old order of things, whilst those who expect to be benefited by the new institutions will be but lukewarm defenders.
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He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss.
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Since the handling of arms is a beautiful spectacle, it is delightful to young men.
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Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many.
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To know in war how to recognize an opportunity and seize it is better than anything else.
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A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers.
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Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.
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Few men are brave by nature, but good discipline and experience make many so.
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A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought… but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.
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Good order and discipline in any army are to be depended upon more than courage alone.
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A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.