The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThe 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.
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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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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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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I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
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This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.
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War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.
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It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
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Politics have no relation to morals.
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Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.
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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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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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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 no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
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Never was anything great achieved without danger.
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Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI