"And truly it is a very natural..." - Quote by Niccolo Machiavelli
And truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised or not blamed; but when they cannot, and wish to do it anyway, here lies the error and the blame.
More by Niccolo Machiavelli
“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.”
“One must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves”
“Without doubt, ferocious and disordered men are much weaker than timid and ordered ones. For order chases fear from men and disorder lessens ferocity.”
More on Ambition
“From the moment I wrote 'Leaf Storm' I realized I wanted to be a writer and that nobody could stop me and that the only thing left for me to do was to try to be the best writer in the world.”
“It looks to me like any man that wants to be President in times like these lacks something.”
“Power is given only to him who dares to stoop and take it ... one must have the courage to dare.”
More on Human Nature
“A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.”
“A new person is to me a great event, and hinders me from sleep. I have often had fine fancies about persons which have given me delicious hours; but the joy ends in the day; it yields no fruit.”
“That little word 'we' I mistrust and here's why:No man of another can say, 'He is I.'Behind all agreement lies something amissAll seeming accord cloaks a lurking abyss.”