“ If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 2.3K
“ When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 1.5K
“ I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 1.2K
“ It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 3.8K
“ It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 2.6K
“ It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 3.1K
“ Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 2.6K
“ The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 322
“ Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 2.8K
“ A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 654
“ Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 1.6K
“ 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. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 3.2K
“ I hold strongly to this: that it is better to be impetuous than circumspect; because fortune is a woman and if she is to be submissive it is necessary to beat and coerce her. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 2.3K
“ God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 3.1K
“ God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 1.7K
“ Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 3.7K
“ 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. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 1.1K
“ I conclude therefore that, fortune being changeful and mankind steadfast in their ways, so long as the two are in agreement men are successful, but unsuccessful when they fall out. For my part I consider that it is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman, and if you wish to keep her under it is necessary to beat and illuse her; and it is seen that she allows herself to be mastered by the adventurous rather than by those who go to work more coldly. She is, therefore, always, womanlike, a lover of young men, because they are less cautious, more violent, and with more audacity command her. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
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“ But confining myself more to the particular, I say that a prince may be seen happy today and ruined tomorrow without having shown any change of disposition or character. This, I believe, arises firstly from causes that have already been discussed at length, namely, that the prince who relies entirely upon fortune is lost when it changes. I believe also that he will be successful who directs his actions according to the spirit of the times, and that he whose actions do not accord with the times will not be successful. Because men are seen, in affairs that lead to the end which every man has before him, namely, glory and riches, to get there by various methods; one with caution, another with haste; one by force, another by skill; one by patience, another by its opposite; and each one succeeds in reaching the goal by a different method. One can also see of two cautious men the one attain his end, the other fail; and similarly, two men by different observances are equally successful, the one being cautious, the other impetuous; all this arises from nothing else than whether or not they conform in their methods to the spirit of the times. This follows from what I have said, that two men working differently bring about the same effect, and of two working similarly, one attains his object and the other does not. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
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“ For that reason, let a prince have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be praised by everybody because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it; and in the world there are only the vulgar, for the few find a place there only when the many have no ground to rest on. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
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“ For this reason a prince ought to take care that he never lets anything slip from his lips that is not replete with the abovenamed five qualities, that he may appear to him who sees and hears him altogether merciful, faithful, humane, upright, and religious. There is nothing more necessary to appear to have than this last quality, inasmuch as men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because it belongs to everybody to see you, to few to come in touch with you. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of all men, and especially of princes, which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 1.7K
“ Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless. ”
- Niccolo Machiavelli- Copy
- 2.7K
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