Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIA son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.
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He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
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Benefits should be conferred gradually; and in that way they will taste better.
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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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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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Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.
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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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Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.
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The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.
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Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.
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For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.
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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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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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The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
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I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI