Quotes, Quotations and Sayings

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.

Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.

We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.

Long before Einstein told us that matter is energy, Machiavelli and Hobbes and other modern political philosophers defined man as a lump of matter whose most politically relevant attribute is a form of energy called ''self-interestedness.'' This was not a

A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savor of it. Let him act like the clever archers who, designing to hit the mark which yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of their bow attains, take aim much higher than the mark, not to reach by their strength or arrow to so great a height, but to be able with the aid of so high an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.

To be feared is much safer then to be loved.

It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.

One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.

A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity.

It should be noted that when he seizes a state the new ruler ought to determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He should inflict them once and for all, and not have to renew them every day.

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

Many have dreamed up republics and principalities that have never in truth been known to exist; the gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation.

States that rise quickly, just as all the other things of nature that are born and grow rapidly, cannot have roots and ramifications; the first bad weather kills them.

Benefits should be conferred gradually; and in that way they will taste better.

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.

Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.

Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.

Men nearly always follow the tracks made by others and proceed in their affairs by imitation, even though they cannot entirely keep to the tracks of others or emulate the prowess of their models. So a prudent man should always follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been outstanding. If his own prowess fails to compare with theirs, at least it has an air of greatness about it. He should behave like those archers who, if they are skilful, when the target seems too distant, know the capabilities of their bow and aim a good deal higher than their objective, not in order to shoot so high but so that by aiming high they can reach the target.

Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.

Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see, but only a few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are, and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.

Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.

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.

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

I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself.

Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.

The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.

Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

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.

God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.

Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.

A prince must be prudent enough to know how to escape the bad reputation of those vices that would lose the state for him, and must protect himself from those that will not lose it for him, if this is possible; but if he cannot, he need not concern himself unduly if he ignores these less serious vices.

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

The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.

War is a profession by which a man cannot live honorably; an employment by which the soldier, if he would reap any profit, is obliged to be false, rapacious, and cruel.

Politics have no relation to morals.

When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the marjority of men live content.

Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.

There is no other way of guarding oneself against flattery than by letting men understand that they will not offend you by speaking the truth but when everyone can tell you the truth, you lose their respect.

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

Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.

He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss.

A prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study but war and it organization and discipline, for that is the only art that is necessary to one who commands.

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, and the third is useless.

Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it.

He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building.

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.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order to things.