It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIIt is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThe promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIHe who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLISo that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLITo 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 MACHIAVELLIBenefits ought to be handed ought drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIPrinces and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThe fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThe first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThere 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.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIMen rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThere is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIMen 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.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIThere is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLITardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIA return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI