Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLINature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
-
-
He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
Politics have no relation to morals.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI -
The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI