Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
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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The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
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Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.
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Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.
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Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
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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.
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For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.
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When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.
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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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Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.
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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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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.
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It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.
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A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
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The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.
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If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI