He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThe 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.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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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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There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
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We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.
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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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Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.
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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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It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
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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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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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It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
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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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It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
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It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.
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I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
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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.
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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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The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
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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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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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Before all else, be armed.
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Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.
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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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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.
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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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One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI