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.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIWhere the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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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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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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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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A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man.
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Before all else, be armed.
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Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.
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He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
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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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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 avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
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Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
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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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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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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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I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI