The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIMen are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
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Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
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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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Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate.
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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.
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Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.
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There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
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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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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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God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.
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The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
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The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.
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Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
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Before all else, be armed.
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War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI