The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLIBefore all else, be armed.
More Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
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Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
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This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.
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There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
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Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense.
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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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Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.
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He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
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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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It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
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Never was anything great achieved without danger.
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It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
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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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It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.
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Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked.
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Politics have no relation to morals.
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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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If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
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The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.
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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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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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So that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.
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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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Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
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Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.
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When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.
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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.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI