If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

Always assume incompetence before looking for conspiracy.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.

- Niccolo 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…

- Niccolo Machiavelli

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes o…

- Niccolo Machiavelli

There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

Politics have no relation to morals.

- Niccolo Machiavelli