#Cunning Quotes

“I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.”

“Cunning is strength withheld.”

“Never give a sucker an even break.”

“The animals to whom nature has given the faculty we call cunning know always when to use it, and use it wisely; but when man descends to cunning he blunders and betrays.”

“Cunning... is but the low mimic of wisdom.”

“The prince must be a lion, but he must also know how to play the fox.”

“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.”

“Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves”

“Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.”

“A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from snares, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves.”

“One must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves”

“The more clever and cunning people are, the stranger the events will be.”

“Knowledge which is divorced from justice, may be called cunning rather than wisdom.”

“The fox when it sees a flock of herons or magpies or birds of that kind, suddenly flings himself on the ground with his mouth open to look as he were dead; and these birds want to peck at his tongue, and he bites off their heads.”

“I believe that cunning is not only morally wrong but also politically expedient, and have therefore always discountenanced its use even from the practical standpoint.”

“Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable.”

“Undoubtedly ... there is a meanness in all the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation. What bears affinity to cunning is despicable.”

“The daily employment of cunning marks a little mind, it generally happens that those who resort to it in one respect to protect themselves lay themselves open to attack in another.”

“The most sure method of subjecting yourself to be deceived is to consider yourself more cunning than others.”

“It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.”

“One man may be more cunning than another, but no one can be more cunning than all the world.”

“Those who have the most cunning affect all their lives to condemn cunning; that they may make use of it on some great occasion, and to some great end.”

“It is often hard to determine whether a clear, open, and honorable proceeding is the result of goodness or of cunning.”

“The sure way to be cheated is to think one's self more cunning than others.”

“Those who are overreached by our cunning are far from appearing to us as ridiculous as we appear to ourselves when the cunning of others has overreached us.”

“The most subtle of our acts is to simulate blindness for snares that we know are set for us.”

“The cunningest dissimulation is when a man pretends to be caught in the traps others set for him; and a man is never so easily over-reached as when he is contriving to over-reach others.”

“Self-love is more cunning than the most cunning man in the world.”

“There are a great many simpletons who know themselves to be so, and who make a very cunning use of their own simplicity.”

“One may outwit another, but not all the others.”

“The most ingenious men continually pretend to condemn tricking--but this is often done that they may use it more conveniently themselves, when some great occasion or interest offers itself to them.”

“It is a great act of cleverness to be able to conceal one's being clever.”

“The most effectual way to be deceived is to believe oneself more cunning than one's neighbors.”

“What makes us so bitter against people who outwit us is that they think themselves cleverer than we are.”

“The cunning man steals a horse, the wise man lets him alone.”

“One Man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than every body else.”

“Cold & cunning come from the north: But cunning sans wisdom is nothing worth.”

“"As I think I told you once before," said I, "it is you who have been, in your greed and cunning, against all the world. It may be profitable to you to reflect, in future, that there never were greed and cunning in the world yet, that did not do too much, and overreach themselves. It is as certain as death."”

“Cunning proceeds from want of capacity.”

“Don't think so much of your own Cunning, as to forget other Men's; a Cunning Man is overmatched by a cunning Man and a Half.”