Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

“Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.”

“Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”

“Without doubt, ferocious and disordered men are much weaker than timid and ordered ones. For order chases fear from men and disorder lessens ferocity.”

“To keep your actions and your plans secret always has been a very good thing . .. Marcus Crassus said to one who asked him when he was going to move the army: 'Do you believe that you will be the only one not to hear the trumpet?”

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”

“The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

“The forces of adversaries are more diminished by the loss of those who flee than of those who are killed.”

“One should never risk one's whole fortune unless supported by one's entire forces.”

“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.”

“Men seldom rise from low condition to high rank without employing either force or fraud, unless that rank should be attained either by gift or inheritance.”

“Nothing is of greater importance in time of war than in knowing how to make the best use of a fair opportunity when it is offered.”

“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.”

“...it is a base thing to look to others for your defense instead of depending upon yourself. That defense alone is effectual, sure, and durable which depends upon yourself and your own valor.”

“It is much safer for the prince to be feared than loved, but he ought to avoid making himself hated.”

“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.”

“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.”

“A prince who is not himself wise cannot be wisely advised. . . . Good advice depends on the shrewdness of the prince who seeks it, and not the shrewdness of the prince on good advice.”

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

“Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.”

“They have not any difficulties on the way up because they fly, but they have many when they reach the summit.”

“It is a common failing of man not to take account of tempests during fair weather.”

“Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it; or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.”

“When every province of the world so teems with inhabitants that they can neither subsist where they are nor remove themselves elsewhere.”

“Never lead your soldiers to battle if you have not first confirmed their spirit and known them to be without fear and ordered; and never test them except when you see that they hope to win.”

“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.”