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.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
Rome remained free for four hundred years and Sparta eight hundred, although their citizens were armed all that time; but many other states that have been disarmed have lost their liberties in less than forty years.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of being armed to maintain freedom and liberty, suggesting that disarmament can lead to the loss of those freedoms.
Machiavelli asserts that the longevity of freedom in Rome and Sparta, despite their citizens being armed, highlights a crucial lesson about the relationship between power and liberty. He argues that states that disarm their citizens often face rapid declines in their freedoms, implying that an armed populace is vital for the preservation of a free society. This serves as a warning against disarmament and an assertion of the need for individuals to possess the means to protect their rights.
Themes
FreedomArmsLibertyDisarmamentCitizens
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on gun control, one might quote Machiavelli to emphasize the importance of armed citizens in preserving freedoms.
More from Niccolo Machiavelli
All quotes →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 MachiavelliRead
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.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
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.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
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