Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThe fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.
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I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
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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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It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
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A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man.
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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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It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
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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.
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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 wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.
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War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.
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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.
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One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.
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Before all else, be armed.
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The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.
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So that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.
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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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We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.
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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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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.
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One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
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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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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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There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
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Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.
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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.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI