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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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves...
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savor of it. Let him act like the clever archers who, designing to hit the mark which yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of their bow attains, take aim much higher than the mark, not to reach by their strength or arrow to so great a height, but to be able with the aid of so high an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
The unarmed man is not just defenseless - he is also contemptible.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
....it cannot be called ingenuity to kill one's fellow citizens, to betray friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; by these means one can aquire power but not glory.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Though fraud in all other actions be odious, yet in matters of war it is laudable and glorious, and he who overcomes his enemies by stratagem is as much to be praised as he who overcomes them by force.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
...people are by nature fickle, and it is easy to persuade them of something, but difficult to keep them persuaded.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Results are often obtained by impetuosity and daring which could never have been obtained by ordinary methods.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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And truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised or not blamed; but when they cannot, and wish to do it anyway, here lies the error and the blame.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
The ends justifies the means.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
....nothing is so unhealthy or unstable as the reputation for power that is not based on one's own power.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
How perilous it is to free a people who prefer slavery.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine...We work in the Dark, to serve the Light.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli -
I hope and hoping feeds my pain I weep and weeping feeds my failing heart I laugh but the laughter does not pass within I burn but the burning makes no mark outside.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli