Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

“Change has no constituency.”

“Men as a whole judge more with their eyes than with their hands.”

“Though fraud in all other actions be odious, yet in matters of war it is laudable and glorious, and he who overcomes his enemies by stratagem is as much to be praised as he who overcomes them by force.”

“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”

“I hope and hoping feeds my painI weep and weeping feeds my failing heartI laugh but the laughter does not pass withinI burn but the burning makes no mark outside.”

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

“I am firmly convinced, therefore, that to set up a republic which is to last a long time, the way to set about it is to constitute it as Sparta and Venice were constituted; to place it in a strong position, and so to fortify it that no one will dream of taking it by a sudden assault; and, on the other hand, not to make it so large as to appear formidable to its neighbors. It should in this way be able to enjoy its form of government for a long time. For war is made on a commonwealth for two reasons: to subjugate it, and for fear of being subjugated by it.”

“Then also pretexts for seizing property are never wanting, and one who begins to live by rapine will always find some reason for taking the goods of others, whereas causes for taking life are rarer and more quickly destroyed.”

“War brings out thieves and peace hangs them.”

“We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been considered mean; the rest have failed.”

“In war, discipline can do more than fury.”

“The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.”

“Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many.”

“Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”

“Princes should delegate to others the enactment of unpopular measures and keep in their own hands the means of winning favours.”

“One should never allow chaos to develop in order to avoid going to war, because one does not avoid a war but instead puts it off to his disadvantage”

“You do not know the unfathomable cowardice of humanity...servile in the face of force, pitiless in the face of weakness, implacable before blunders, indulgent before crimes...and patient to the point of martyrdom before all the violences of bold despotism.”

“Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but 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.”

“A multitude is strong while it holds together, but so soon as each of those who compose it begins ro think of his own private danger, it becomes weak and contemptible.”

“I don't doubt that every prince would like to be both; but since it is hard to accomodate these qualities, if you have to make a choice, to be feared is much safer than to be loved. For it is a good general rule about men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain....[love] is a link of obligation which men, because they are rotten, will break anything they think doing so serves their advantage; but fear involves dread of punishment, from which they can never escape.”

“It may be observed, that provinces amid the vicissitudes to which they are subject, pass from order into confusion, and afterward recur to a state of order again; for the nature of mundane affairs not allowing them to continue in an even course, when they have arrived at their greatest perfection, they soon begin to decline.”

“We must distinguish between those who depend on others, that is between those who to achieve their purposes can force the issue and those who must use persuasion. In the second case, they always come to grief, having achieved nothing; when, however, they depend on their own resources and can force the issue, then they are seldom endangered.”

“Cruelties should be committed all at once.”

“An armed republic submits less easily to the rule of one of its citizens than a republic armed by foreign forces. Rome and Sparta were for many centuries well armed and free. The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom. Among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible. It is not reasonable to suppose that one who is armed will obey willingly one who is unarmed; or that any unarmed man will remain safe among armed servants.”

“The leader should know how to enter into evil when necessity commands.”