Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

“Present wars impoverish the lords that win as much as those that lose.”

“All the armed prophets conquered; all the unarmed ones perished.”

“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.”

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

“Conquered states that have been accustomed to liberty and the government of their own laws can be held by the conqueror in three different ways. The first is to ruin them; the second, for the conqueror to go and reside there in person; and the third is to allow them to continue to live under their own laws, subject to a regular tribute, and to create in them a government of a few, who will keep the country friendly to the conqueror”

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

“Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed ought drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more.”

“How laudable it is for a prince to keep good faith and live with integrity, and not with astuteness, every one knows. Still the experience of our times shows those princes to have done great things who have had little regard for good faith, and have been able by astuteness to confuse men's brains, and who have ultimately overcome those who have made loyalty their foundation.”

“For as good habits of the people require good laws to support them, so laws, to be observed, need good habits on the part of the people.”

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

“The princes who have done great things are the ones who have taken little account of their promises.”

“To ensure victory the troops must have confidence in themselves as well as in their commanders.”

“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 to frighten wolves.”

“And the prince who has relied solely on their words, without making other preparations, is ruined, for the friendship which is gained by purchase and not through grandeur and nobility of spirit is merited but is not secured, and at times is not to be had.”

“By the delusions of seeming good the people are often misled to desire their own ruin; and they are frequently influenced by great hopes and brave promises.”

“A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it according to the necessity of the case.”

“When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.”

“For government consists in nothing else but so controlling subjects that they shall neither be able to, nor have cause to do [it] harm.”

“Before all else, be armed.”

“War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.”

“Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.”

“One should never permit a disorder to persist in order to avoid a war, for wars cannot be avoided and can only be deferred to the advantage of others.”

“....those who become princes through their skill acquire the pricipality with difficulty, buy they hold onto it with ease.”

“Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.”

“Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.”