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.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the difference between public perception and true character, suggesting that most people are aware of only appearances.
Machiavelli's quote emphasizes the contrast between how individuals are viewed by society and their true nature. It reflects on the idea that while many may judge someone based on superficial appearances, only a select few can see beyond that façade. Furthermore, those who do understand the truth often remain silent, due to the potential repercussions of contradicting the majority opinion that is supported by the power of the state.
In practice
In a discussion about social media's influence on public perception, one might quote Machiavelli on appearances.
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.
Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin than his preservation.
Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.
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.
The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.
In war, discipline can do more than fury.
Most of the great books on prayer are written by 'experts' - monks, missionaries, mystics, saints. I've read scores of them, and mainly they make me feel guilty.
Erotic acts are instinctive; they fulfill a role in nature. The idea is familiar, but it is one that contains a paradox: there is nothing more natural than sexual desire; there is nothing less natural than the forms in which it is made manifest and satisfied.
A man who moralizes is a hypocrite, and a woman who does so is invariably plain.
The idea that political freedom can be preserved in the absence of economic freedom, and vice versa, is an illusion. Political freedom is the corollary of economic freedom.
Who is to decide which is the grimmer sight: withered hearts, or empty skulls?
The Book of Life begins with a man and a woman in a garden. It ends with Revelations.
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