Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Quotes
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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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One must consider the final result...
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Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.
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Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
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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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Good order and discipline in any army are to be depended upon more than courage alone.
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To know well the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to know well the nature of princes one must be of the people.
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How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation.
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Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold.
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Never do an enemy a small injury.
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I believe that it is possible for one to praise, without concern, any man after he is dead since every reason and supervision for adulation is lacking.
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Before all else, be armed.
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Anyone who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it may expect to be destroyed by it; for such a city may always justify rebellion in the name of liberty and its ancient institutions.
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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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It is the duty of a man of honor to teach others the good which he has not been able to do himself because of the malignity of the times, that this good finally can be done by another more loved in heaven.
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Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
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Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself; for that power is produced by him either through craft or force; and both of these are suspected by the one who has been raised to power.
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The prince must be a lion, but he must also know how to play the fox.
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There should be many judges, for few will always do the will of few.
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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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For this is the tragedy of man circumstances change, but he does not.
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The world has always been the same; and there is always as much good fortune as bad in it.
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Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.
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For without invention, no one was ever a great man in his own trade.