There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIIf an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.
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The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.
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The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
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It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.
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The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned.
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Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
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We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.
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But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.
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Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.
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A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.
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Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
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Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.
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Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.
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No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
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There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI






