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.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIHence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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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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No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
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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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The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
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A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
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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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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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Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.
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Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
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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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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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This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.
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He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
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I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
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War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI