Niccolo Machiavelli

Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked.

Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.

Hence it comes that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.

The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.

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.

Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.

There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.

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.

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.

Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.

There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.

When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.

Speaking generally, men are ungrateful, fickle, hypocritical, fearful odanger and covetous ogain.

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.

A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers.

The prince must consider, as has been in part said before, how to avoid those things which will make him hated or contemptible; and as often as he shall have succeeded he will have fulfilled his part, and he need not fear any danger in other reproaches.

Therefore, a prudent ruler ought not to keep faith when by so doing it would be against his interest, and when the reasons which made him bind himself no longer exist. If men were all good, this precept would not be a good one; but as they are bad, and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them.

If someone puts up the argument that King Louis gave the Romagna to Pope Alexander, and the kingdom of Naples to Spain, in order to avoid a war, I would answer as I did before: that you should never let things get out of hand in order to avoid war. You don't avoid such a war, you merely postpone it, to your own disadvantage.

Then also pretexts for seizing property are never wanting, and one who begins to live by rapine will always find some reason for taking the goods of others, whereas causes for taking life are rarer and more quickly destroyed.

Still, a prince should make himself feared in such a way that if he does not gain love, he at any rate avoids hatred; for fear and the absence of hatred may well go together, and will be always attained by one who abstains from interfering with the property of his citizens and subjects or with their women.

Nevertheless, he must be cautious in believing and acting, and must not inspire fear of his own accord, and must proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence does not render him incautious, and too much diffidence does not render him intolerant. From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved.