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A Man Who Is Used To Acting In One Way Never Changes; He Must Come To Ruin When The Times, In Changing, No Longer Are In Harmony With His Ways.
-Niccolo Machiavelli
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A Man Who Is

Niccolo Machiavelli
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A Man Who Is Used To Acting In One Way Never Changes; He Must Come To Ruin When The Times, In Changing, No Longer Are In Harmony With His Ways.

Understanding the Quote: "a man who is used to acting in one way never changes;..."

This quote by Niccolo Machiavelli reflects deeply on the theme of men. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Men, Acting, Way, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Niccolo Machiavelli interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli is celebrated for insightful thoughts on men and acting. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Men
Acting
Way
More From Niccolo Machiavelli
For That Reason, Let A Prince Have The Credit Of Conquering And Holding His State, The Means Will Always Be Considered Honest, And He Will Be Praised By Everybody Because The Vulgar Are Always Taken By What A Thing Seems To Be And By What Comes Of It; And In The World There Are Only The Vulgar, For The Few Find A Place There Only When The Many Have No Ground To Rest On.
Taken
Mean
Credit
War Is Just When It Is Necessary; Arms Are Permissible When There Is No Hope Except In Arms.
War
Philosophical
Arms
It Is A True Observation Of Ancient Writers, That As Men Are Apt To Be Cast Down By Adversity, So They, Are Easily Satiated With Prosperity, And That Joy And Grief Produce The Same Effects. For Whenever Men Are Not Obliged By Necessity To Fight They Fight From Ambition, Which Is So Powerful A Passion In The Human Breast That However High We Reach We Are Never Satisfied.
Powerful
Grief
Ambition
The Promise Given Was A Necessity Of The Past: The Word Broken Is A Necessity Of The Present.
Past
Keeping Promises
Broken
So In All Human Affairs One Notices, If One Examines Them Closely, That It Is Impossible To Remove One Inconvenience Without Another Emerging.
Art
War
Impossible
Men Are So Simple And So Much Inclined To Obey Immediate Needs That A Deceiver Will Never Lack Victims For His Deceptions.
Simple
Men
Hype
Any Harm You Do To A Man Should Be Done In Such A Way That You Need Not Fear His Revenge.
Revenge
Men
Needs
Knowing How To Fight Made Men More Bold, Because No One Fears Doing What It Seems To Him He Has Learned To Do. Therefore, The Ancients Wanted Their Citizens To Be Trained In Every Warlike Action.
Art
War
Fighting
Wisdom Consists In Being Able To Distinguish Among Dangers And Make A Choice Of The Least Harmful.
Wisdom
Choices
Able
Any Man Who Tries To Be Good All The Time Is Bound To Come To Ruin Among The Great Number Who Are Not Good. Hence A Prince Who Wants To Keep His Authority Must Learn How Not To Be Good, And Use That Knowledge, Or Refrain From Using It, As Necessity Requires.
Men
Numbers
Trying
Because There Are Three Classes Of Intellects: One Which Comprehends By Itself; Another Which Appreciates What Others Comprehend; And A Third Which Neither Comprehends By Itself Nor By The Showing Of Others; The First Is The Most Excellent, The Second Is Good, The Third Is Useless.
Class
Appreciate
Three
The End Of The Republic Is To Enervate And To Weaken All Other Bodies So As To Increase Its Own Body.
Art
War
Body
Decide Which Is The Line Of Conduct That Presents The Fewest Drawbacks And Then Follow It Out As Being The Best One, Because One Never Finds Anything Perfectly Pure And Unmixed, Or Exempt From Danger.
Decision
Lines
Being The Best
Without Doubt, Ferocious And Disordered Men Are Much Weaker Than Timid And Ordered Ones. For Order Chases Fear From Men And Disorder Lessens Ferocity.
Art
War
Men
The Romans Never Allowed A Trouble Spot To Remain Simply To Avoid Going To War Over It, Because They Knew That Wars Don't Just Go Away, They Are Only Postponed To Someone Else's Advantage. Therefore, They Made War With Philip And Antiochus In Greece, In Order Not To Have To Fight Them In Italy... They Never Went By That Saying Which You Constantly Hear From The Wiseacres Of Our Day, That Time Heals All Things. They Trusted Rather Their Own Character And Prudence- Knowing Perfectly Well That Time Contains The Seeds Of All Things, Good As Well As Bad.
Art
War
Character
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, So That The Injury Done To A Man Ought To Be Such That Vengeance Cannot Be Feared.
War
Men
Political
Hence It Happened That All The Armed Prophets Conquered, All The Unarmed Perished. [it., Di Qui Nacque Che Tutti Li Profeti Armati Vincero, E Li Disarmati Rovinarono.]
War
Prophet
Unarmed
I Am Firmly Convinced, Therefore, That To Set Up A Republic Which Is To Last A Long Time, The Way To Set About It Is To Constitute It As Sparta And Venice Were Constituted; To Place It In A Strong Position, And So To Fortify It That No One Will Dream Of Taking It By A Sudden Assault; And, On The Other Hand, Not To Make It So Large As To Appear Formidable To Its Neighbors. It Should In This Way Be Able To Enjoy Its Form Of Government For A Long Time. For War Is Made On A Commonwealth For Two Reasons: To Subjugate It, And For Fear Of Being Subjugated By It.
Dream
Art
Strong
For It Must Be Noted, That Men Must Either Be Caressed Or Else Annihilated; They Will Revenge Themselves For Small Injuries, But Cannot Do So For Great Ones; The Injury Therefore That We Do To A Man Must Be Such That We Need Not Fear His Vengeance.
Revenge
Men
Needs
Benefits Should Be Conferred Gradually; And In That Way They Will Taste Better.
Philosophy
Philosophical
Benefits
Nature Creates Few Men Brave, Industry And Training Makes Many.
Men
Brave
Training
A Prince Must Not Have Any Other Object Nor Any Other Thought… But War, Its Institutions, And Its Discipline; Because That Is The Only Art Befitting One Who Commands.
Art
War
Discipline
And If Such Malignity Is Hidden For A Time, It Proceeds From The Unknown Reason That Would Not Be Known Because The Experience Of The Contrary Had Not Been Seen, But Time, Which Is Said To Be The Father Of Every Truth, Will Cause It To Be Discovered.
Art
Father
War
Conquered States That Have Been Accustomed To Liberty And The Government Of Their Own Laws Can Be Held By The Conqueror In Three Different Ways. The First Is To Ruin Them; The Second, For The Conqueror To Go And Reside There In Person; And The Third Is To Allow Them To Continue To Live Under Their Own Laws, Subject To A Regular Tribute, And To Create In Them A Government Of A Few, Who Will Keep The Country Friendly To The Conqueror
Country
War
Government
It Ought To Be Remembered That 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. Because The Innovator Has For Enemies All Those Who Have Done Well Under The Old Conditions, And Lukewarm Defenders In Those Who May Do Well Under The New. This Coolness Arises Partly From Fear Of The Opponents, Who Have The Laws On Their Side, And Partly From The Incredulity Of Men, Who Do Not Readily Believe In New Things Until They Have Had A Long Experience Of Them.
Believe
Art Of War
Men
So Long As The Great Majority Of Men Are Not Deprived Of Either Property Or Honor, They Are Satisfied.
Men
Long
Honor
A Battle That You Win Cancels All Your Mistakes.
Peace
War
Mistake
Ability And Perseverance Are The Weapons Of Weakness.
Perseverance
Weakness
Weapons
It Is Better To Act And Repent Than Not To Act And Regret.
Regret
Repent
In Our Own Days We Have Seen No Princes Accomplish Great Results Save Those Who Have Been Accounted Miserly.
Results
Accomplish
Has Beens
Men Are More Apt To Be Mistaken In Their Generalizations Than In Their Particular Observations.
Men
Justice
Observation
It Has Always Been The Opinion And Judgment Of Wise Men That Nothing Can Be So Uncertain As Fame Or Power Not Founded On Its Own Strength.
Wise
Men
Opinion
One Should Never Fall In The Belief That You Can Find Someone To Pick You Up.
Fall
Belief
Should
Men Rise From One Ambition To Another: First, They Seek To Secure Themselves Against Attack, And Then They Attack Others.
Ambition
Men
Politics
There Are Three Kinds Of Brains. The One Understands Things Unassisted, The Other Understands Things When Shown By Others, The Third Understands Neither Alone Nor With The Explanations Of Others.
Brain
Three
Kind
Any Man Who Tries To Be Good All The Time Is Bound To Come To Ruin Among The Great Number Who Are Not Good.
Men
Numbers
Trying
But In Republics There Is A Stronger Vitality, A Fiercer Hatred, A Keener Thirst For Revenge. The Memory Of Their Former Freedom Will Not Let Them Rest; So That The Safest Course Is Either To Destroy Them, Or To Go And Live In Them.
Memories
Revenge
Hatred
It Is Much Better To Tempt Fortune Where It Can Favor You Than To See Your Certain Ruin By Not Tempting It.
Art
War
Favors
If The Course Of Human Affairs Be Considered, It Will Be Seen That Many Things Arise Against Which Heaven Does Not Allow Us To Guard.
Destiny
Heaven
Doe
A Son Could Bear With Great Complacency, The Death Of His Father, While The Loss Of His Inheritance Might Drive Him To Despair.
Father
Loss
Son
....it Cannot Be Called Ingenuity To Kill One's Fellow Citizens, To Betray Friends, To Be Without Faith, Without Mercy, Without Religion; By These Means One Can Aquire Power But Not Glory.
Mean
Citizens
Politics
In The Same Manner, Having Been Reduced By Disorder, And Sunk To Their Utmost State Of Depression, Unable To Descend Lower, They, Of Necessity, Reascend; And Thus From Good They Gradually Decline To Evil, And From Evil Again Return To Good. The Reason Is, That Valor Produces Peace; Peace, Repose; Repose, Disorder; Disorder, Ruin; So From Disorder Order Springs; From Order Virtue, And From This, Glory And Good Fortune.
Art
Spring
War
Among Other Causes Of Misfortune Which Your Not Being Armed Brings Upon You, It Makes You Despised.
Peace
War
Arms
Power Is The Pivot On Which Everything Hinges. He Who Has The Power Is Always Right; The Weaker Is Always Wrong.
Always Wrong
Hinges
The New Ruler Must Determine All The Injuries That He Will Need To Inflict. He Must Inflict Them Once And For All.
Business
Needs
Decision Making
And Above All You Ought To Guard Against Leading An Army To Fight Which Is Afraid Or Which Is Not Confident Of Victory. For The Greatest Sign Of An Impending Loss Is When One Does Not Believe One Can Win.
Art
War
Believe
Whoever Is The Cause Of Another Becoming Powerful, Is Ruined Himself; For That Power Is Produced By Him Either Through Craft Or Force; And Both Of These Are Suspected By The One Who Has Been Raised To Power.
Powerful
Crafts
Causes
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.
Men
Law
Evil
There Should Be Many Judges, For Few Will Always Do The Will Of Few.
Judging
Should
A Prudent Man Should Always Follow In The Path Trodden By Great Men And Imitate Those Who Are Most Excellent, So That If He Does Not Attain To Their Greatness, At Any Rate He Will Get Some Tinge Of It.
Greatness
Men
Doe
For A Long Time I Have Not Said What I Believed, Nor Do I Ever Believe What I Say, And If Indeed Sometimes I Do Happen To Tell The Truth, I Hide It Among So Many Lies That It Is Hard To Find.
Lying
Believe
Long
It Is Much Safer For The Prince To Be Feared Than Loved, But He Ought To Avoid Making Himself Hated.
Hated
Ought
One Arises From A Low To A High Station More Often By Using Fraud Instead Of Force.
Arise
Lows
Force
For Whoever Conquers A Free Town, And Does Not Demolish It, Commits A Great Error, And May Expect To Be Ruin 'd Himself.
War
Errors
Uprising
For, Besides What Has Been Said, It Should Be Borne In Mind That The Temper Of The Multitude Is Fickle, And That While It Is Easy To Persuade Them Of A Thing, It Is Hard To Fix Them In That Persuasion
Mind
Fickle
Persuasion
The Wise Man Should Always Follow The Roads That Have Been Trodden By The Great, And Imitate Those Who Have Most Excelled, So That If He Cannot Reach Their Perfection, He May At Least Acquire Something Of Its Savour.
Wise
Men
Perfection
The Nature Of Man Is Such That People Consider Themselves Put Under An Obligation As Much By The Benefits They Confer As By Those They Receive.
Art
War
Men
I Assert Once Again As A Truth To Which History As A Whole Bears Witness That Men May Second Their Fortune, But Cannot Oppose It; That They May Weave Its Warp, But Cannot Break It. Yet They Should Never Give Up, Because There Is Always Hope, Though They Know Not The End And More Towards It Along Roads Which Cross One Another And As Yet Are Unexplored; And Since There Is Hope, They Should Not Despair, No Matter What Fortune Brings Or In What Travail They Find Themselves.
Art
Giving Up
War
There Is Nothing More Difficult To Plan, More Doubtful Of Success, Nor More Dangerous To Manage Than The Creation Of A New Order Of Things..... Whenever His Enemies Have Occasion To Attack The Innovator They Do So With The Passion Of Partisans, While The Others Defend Him Sluggishly So That The Innovator And His Party Alike Are Vulnerable.
Leadership
Party
Passion
I Believe That It Is Possible For One To Praise, Without Concern, Any Man After He Is Dead Since Every Reason And Supervision For Adulation Is Lacking.
Art
War
Believe
Every Little Advantage Is Of Great Moment When Men Have To Come To Blows.
Art
War
Blow
When Men Receive Favours From Someone They Expected To Do Them Ill, They Are Under A Greater Obligation To Their Benefactor.
Art
War
Men
(a Ruler) Cannot And Should Not Keep His Word When To Do So Would Go Against His Interests Or When The Reason He Pledged It No Longer Holds.
Reason
Should
Interest
Men Walk Almost Always In The Paths Trodden By Others, Proceeding In Their Actions By Imitation.
Men
Path
Action
The People Resemble A Wild Beast, Which, Naturally Fierce And Accustomed To Live In The Woods, Has Been Brought Up, As It Were, In A Prison And In Servitude, And Having By Accident Got Its Liberty, Not Being Accustomed To Search For Its Food, And Not Knowing Where To Conceal Itself, Easily Becomes The Prey Of The First Who Seeks To Incarcerate It Again.
Art
War
Knowing
One Must Be A Fox To Recognize Traps And A Lion To Frighten Wolves
Lions
Foxes
Traps
The Reason Is That Nature Has So Created Men That They Are Able To Desire Everything But Are Not Able To Attain Everything: So That The Desire Being Always Greater Than The Acquisition, There Results Discontent With The Possession And Little Satisfaction To Themselves From It. From This Arises The Changes In Their Fortunes; For As Men Desire, Some To Have More, Some In Fear Of Losing Their Acquisition, There Ensues Enmity And War, From Which Results The Ruin Of That Province And The Elevation Of Another.
Art
War
Men
Minds Are Of Three Kinds: One Is Capable Of Thinking For Itself; Another Is Able To Understand The Thinking Of Others; And A Third Can Neither Think For Itself Nor Understand The Thinking Of Others. The First Is Of The Highest Excellence, The Second Is Excellent, And The Third Is Worthless.
Thinking
Mind
Excellence
Few Men Are Brave By Nature, But Good Discipline And Experience Make Many So.
Art
War
Men
When They Remain In Garrison, Soldiers Are Maintained With Fear And Punishment; When They Are Then Led To War, With Hope And Reward.
Art
War
Punishment
Make Mistakes Of Ambition And Not Mistakes Of Sloth. Develop The Strength To Do Bold Things, Not To Suffer.
Mistake
Ambition
Sloth
It May Be Observed, That Provinces Amid The Vicissitudes To Which They Are Subject, Pass From Order Into Confusion, And Afterward Recur To A State Of Order Again; For The Nature Of Mundane Affairs Not Allowing Them To Continue In An Even Course, When They Have Arrived At Their Greatest Perfection, They Soon Begin To Decline.
Art
War
Order
Whoever Desires To Found A State And Give It Laws, Must Start With Assuming That All Men Are Bad And Ever Ready To Display Their Vicious Nature, Whenever They May Find Occasion For It.
Men
Law
Giving
Men Are More Ready To Offend One Who Desires To Be Beloved Than One Who Wishes To Be Feared.
Life
Men
Wish
Whosoever Desires Constant Success Must Change His Conduct With The Times.
Change
Success
Philosophical
Tardiness Often Robs Us Opportunity, And The Dispatch Of Our Forces.
Philosophical
Opportunity
Literature
Cruelties Should Be Committed All At Once.
Should
Cruelty
Committed
Never Do An Enemy A Small Injury.
Military
Bad Ass
Enemy
You Do Not Know The Unfathomable Cowardice Of Humanity...servile In The Face Of Force, Pitiless In The Face Of Weakness, Implacable Before Blunders, Indulgent Before Crimes...and Patient To The Point Of Martyrdom Before All The Violences Of Bold Despotism.
Humanity
Liberty
Weakness
Thus It Is Well To Seem Merciful, Faithful, Humane, Sincere, Religious, And Also To Be So; But You Must Have The Mind So Disposed That When It Is Needful To Be Otherwise You May Be Able To Change To The Opposite Qualities.
Religious
Character
Opposites
We Cannot Attribute To Fortune Or Virtue That Which Is Achieved Without Either.
Philosophical
Umpires
Literature
The Swiss Are Well Armed And Enjoy Great Freedom.
Swiss
Enjoy
Wells
A Blast In The Human Breast Is Nothing To Boast Of.
Blast
Breasts
Boast
Men Are So Stupid And Concerned With Their Present Needs, They Will Always Let Themselves Be Deceived.
Stupid
Men
Needs
When Evening Comes, I Return Home And Go Into My Study. On The Threshold I Strip Off My Muddy, Sweaty Clothes Of Everyday, And Put On The Robes Of Court And Palace, And In This Graver Dress I Enter The Antique Courts Of The Ancients And Am Welcomed By Them, And There I Taste The Food That Alone Is Mine, And For Which I Was Born. And There I Make Bold To Speak To Them And Ask The Motives Of Their Actions, And They, In Their Humanity, Reply To Me. And For The Space Of Four Hours I Forget The World, Remember No Vexation, Fear Poverty No More, Tremble No More At Death; I Pass Indeed Into Their World.
Home
Clothes
Space
War Brings Out Thieves And Peace Hangs Them.
War
Thieves
He Who Has Once Begun To Live By Rapine Always Finds Reasons For Taking What Is Not His.
Reason
Live By
Therefore, In Order Not To Have To Rob His Subjects, To Be Able To Defend Himself, Not To Become Poor And Contemptible, And Not To Be Forced To Become Rapacious, A Prince Must Consider It Of Little Importance If He Incurs The Name Of Miser, For This Is One Of The Vices That Permits Him To Rule.
Order
Vices
Littles
Men Are Driven By Two Principal Impulses, Either By Love Or By Fear.
Inspirational
Men
Two
The Prince Must Be A Lion, But He Must Also Know How To Play The Fox.
Play
Lions
Foxes
To Know In War How To Recognize An Opportunity And Seize It Is Better Than Anything Else.
Art
War
Opportunity
He Who Has Not First Laid His Foundations May Be Able With Great Ability To Lay Them Afterwards, But They Will Be Laid With Trouble To The Architect And Danger To The Building.
May
Able
Firsts
A Return To First Principles In A Republic Is Sometimes Caused By The Simple Virtues Of One Man. 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.
Simple
Men
Good Man
One Of The Great Secrets Of The Day Is To Know How To Take Possession Of Popular Prejudices And Passions, In Such A Way As To Introduce A Confusion Of Principles Which Makes Impossible All Understanding Between Those Who Speak The Same Language And Have The Same Interests.
Passion
Confusion
Understanding
God Creates Men, But They Choose Each Other.
Men
Community
The Greatest Remedy That Is Used Against A Plan Of The Enemy Is To Do Voluntarily What He Plans That You Do By Force.
Art
War
Enemy
Wise Men Say, And Not Without Reason, That Whosoever Wished To Foresee The Future Might Consult The Past.
Wise
Past
Men
In The Armies And Among Every Ten Men There Is One Of More Life, Of More Heart, Or At Least Of More Authority, Who With His Courage, With Words And By Example Keeps The Others Firm And Disposed To Fight.
Art
War
Fighting
A Man Who Wishes To Make A Profession Of Goodness In Everything Must Necessarily Come To Grief Among So Many Who Are Not Good. Therefore, It Is Necessary For A Prince, Who Wishes To Maintain Himself, To Learn How Not To Be Good, And To Use This Knowledge And Not Use It According To The Necessity Of The Case.
Grief
Men
Political
The Princes Who Have Done Great Things Are The Ones Who Have Taken Little Account Of Their Promises.
War
Taken
Promise
Thus It Happens In Matters Of State; For Knowing Afar Off (which It Is Only Given A Prudent Man To Do) The Evils That Are Brewing, They Are Easily Cured. But When, For Want Of Such Knowledge, They Are Allowed To Grow So That Everyone Can Recognize Them, There Is No Longer Any Remedy To Be Found.
Men
Knowing
Evil
Still, A Prince Should Make Himself Feared In Such A Way That If He Does Not Gain Love, He At Any Rate Avoids Hatred; For Fear And The Absence Of Hatred May Well Go Together, And Will Be Always Attained By One Who Abstains From Interfering With The Property Of His Citizens And Subjects Or With Their Women.
Art
War
Hatred
And Truly It Is A Very Natural And Ordinary Thing To Desire To Acquire, And Always, When Men Do It Who Can, They Will Be Praised Or Not Blamed; But When They Cannot, And Wish To Do It Anyway, Here Lies The Error And The Blame.
Lying
Men
Errors
Whoever Wishes To Foresee The Future Must Consult The Past; For Human Events Ever Resemble Those Of Preceding Times. This Arises From The Fact That They Are Produced By Men Who Ever Have Been, And Ever Shall Be, Animated By The Same Passions, And Thus They Necessarily Have The Same Results.
Inspirational
Motivational
Passion
How We Live Is So Different From How We Ought To Live That He Who Studies What Ought To Be Done Rather Than What Is Done Will Learn The Way To His Downfall Rather Than To His Preservation.
Different
Done
Way
States That Rise Quickly, Just As All The Other Things Of Nature That Are Born And Grow Rapidly, Cannot Have Roots And Ramifications; The First Bad Weather Kills Them
Weather
Roots
Firsts
He Who Is The Cause Of Another's Advancement Is Thereby The Cause Of His Own Ruin.
Advancement
Waste
Ruins
Though Fraud In All Other Actions Be Odious, Yet In Matters Of War It Is Laudable And Glorious, And He Who Overcomes His Enemies By Stratagem Is As Much To Be Praised As He Who Overcomes Them By Force.
War
Enemy
Overcoming
From The Latter He Is Defended By Being Well Armed And Having Good Allies, And If He Is Well Armed He Will Have Good Friends, And Affairs Will Always Remain Quiet Within When They Are Quiet Without, Unless They Should Have Been Already Disturbed By Conspiracy; And Even Should Affairs Outside Be Disturbed, If He Has Carried Out His Preparations And Has Lived As I Have Said, As Long As He Does Not Despair, He Will Resist Every Attack.
Art
War
Good Friend
There Is No Avoiding War; It Can Only Be Postponed To The Advantage Of Others.
Peace
Military
War
As All Those Have Shown Who Have Discussed Civil Institutions, And As Every History Is Full Of Examples, It Is Necessary To Whoever Arranges To Found A Republic And Establish Laws In It, To Presuppose That All Men Are Bad And That They Will Use Their Malignity Of Mind Every Time They Have The Opportunity.
Art
War
Opportunity
There Is Simply No Comparison Between A Man Who Is Armed And One Who Is Not. It Is Simply Unreasonable To Expect That An Armed Man Should Obey One Who Is Unarmed, Or That An Unarmed Man Should Remain Safe And Secure When His Servants Are Armed.
Art
War
Men
Whoever Is The Cause Of Another Becoming Powerful, Is Ruined Himself.
Powerful
Causes
Becoming
I Hold Strongly To This: That It Is Better To Be Impetuous Than Circumspect; Because Fortune Is A Woman And If She Is To Be Submissive It Is Necessary To Beat And Coerce Her.
Submissive
Beats
Fortune
The Innovator Has For Enemies All Who Have Done Well Under The Old, And Lukewarm Defenders In Those Who May Do Well Under The New.
Enemy
Done
May
...it Behooves Us To Adapt Oneself To The Times If One Wants To Enjoy Continued Good Fortune.
Life
Want
Fortune
Men As A Whole Judge More With Their Eyes Than With Their Hands.
Eye
Men
Hands
The World Has Always Been The Same; And There Is Always As Much Good Fortune As Bad In It.
World
Fortune
Good Fortune
Men Ought Either To Be Well Treated, Or Crushed.
Men
Crushed
Wells
Many Have Dreamed Up Republics And Principalities That Have Never In Truth Been Known To Exist; The Gulf Between How One Should Live And How One Does Live Is So Wide That A Man Who Neglects What Is Actually Done For What Should Be Done Learns The Way To Self-destruction Rather Than Self-preservation.
Men
Self
Doe
One Never Finds Anything Perfectly Pure And ... Exempt From Danger.
Danger
Pure
In Truth, There Never Was Any Remarkable Lawgiver Amongst Any People Who Did Not Resort To Divine Authority, As Otherwise His Laws Would Not Have Been Accepted By The People; For There Are Many Good Laws, The Importance Of Which Is Known To Be The Sagacious Lawgiver, But The Reasons For Which Are Not Sufficiently Evident To Enable Him To Persuade Others To Submit To Them; And Therefore Do Wise Men, For The Purpose Of Removing This Difficulty, Resort To Divine Authority.
Wise
Men
Law
Men Are Able To Assist Fortune But Not To Thwart Her. They Can Weave Her Designs, But They Cannot Destroy Them.
Men
Design
Able
If The Chief Party, Whether It Be The People, Or The Army, Or The Nobility, Which You Think Most Useful And Of Most Consequence To You For The Conservation Of Your Dignity, Be Corrupt, You Must Follow Their Humor And Indulge Them, And In That Case Honesty And Virtue Are Pernicious.
Honesty
Party
Army
Make No Small Plans For They Have No Power To Stir The Soul.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
I Hold It To Be Of Great Prudence For Men To Abstain From Threats And Insulting Words Towards Any One, For Neither The One Nor The Other In Any Way Diminishes The Strength Of The Enemy; But The One Makes Him More Cautious, And The Other Increases His Hatred Of You, And Makes Him More Persevering In His Efforts To Injure You
Military
Men
Effort
For As Laws Are Necessary That Good Manners Be Preserved, So There Is Need Of Good Manners That Law May Be Maintained.
Law
Good Man
Needs
He Who Neglects What Is Done For What Ought To Be Done, Sooner Effects His Ruin Than His Preservation.
Done
Ruins
Neglect
The Wish To Acquire Is In Truth Very Natural And Common, And Men Always Do So When They Can.but When They Cannot Do So, Yet Wish To Do So By Any Means, Then There Is Folly And Blame.
Mean
Men
Wish
I Don't Doubt That Every Prince Would Like To Be Both; But Since It Is Hard To Accomodate These Qualities, If You Have To Make A Choice, To Be Feared Is Much Safer Than To Be Loved. For It Is A Good General Rule About Men, That They Are Ungrateful, Fickle, Liars, And Deceivers, Fearful Of Danger And Greedy For Gain....[love] Is A Link Of Obligation Which Men, Because They Are Rotten, Will Break Anything They Think Doing So Serves Their Advantage; But Fear Involves Dread Of Punishment, From Which They Can Never Escape.
Liars
Love Is
Men
It Is Just As Difficult And Dangerous To Try To Free A People That Wants To Remain Servile As It Is To Enslave A People That Wants To Remain Free.
People
Political
Trying
The Sinews Of War Are Not Gold, But Good Soldiers; For Gold Alone Will Not Procure Good Soldiers, But Good Soldiers Will Always Procure Gold.
War
Soldier
Gold
Women Are The Most Charitable Creatures, And The Most Troublesome. He Who Shuns Women Passes Up The Trouble, But Also The Benefits. He Who Puts Up With Them Gains The Benefits, But Also The Trouble. As The Saying Goes, There's No Honey Without Bees.
Benefits
Honey
Gains
There Is Nothing As Likely To Succeed As What The Enemy Believes You Cannot Attempt.
Art
War
Believe
Therefore The Best Fortress Is To Be Found In The Love Of The People, For Although You May Have Fortresses They Will Not Save You If You Are Hated By The People.
Love
Hate
People
Hence It Comes That All Armed Prophets Have Been Victorious, And All Unarmed Prophets Have Been Destroyed.
Literature
Prophet
Unarmed
Everyone Sees What You Appear To Be, Few Experience What You Really Are.
Inspirational
Relationship
Marketing
The Reformer Has Enemies In All Who Profit By The Old Order, And Only Lukewarm Defenders In All Those Who Would Profit By The New Order.
Change
Order
Enemy
For One Change Always Leaves A Dovetail Into Which Another Will Fit.
Fit
And The Prince Who Has Relied Solely On Their Words, Without Making Other Preparations, Is Ruined, For The Friendship Which Is Gained By Purchase And Not Through Grandeur And Nobility Of Spirit Is Merited But Is Not Secured, And At Times Is Not To Be Had.
Art
War
Preparation
If The Present Be Compared With The Remote Past, It Is Easily Seen That In All Cities And In All Peoples There Are The Same Desires And The Same Passions As There Always Were.
Passion
Past
Cities
And What Physicians Say About Disease Is Applicable Here: That At The Beginning A Disease Is Easy To Cure But Difficult To Diagnose; But As Time Passes, Not Having Been Recognized Or Treated At The Outset, It Becomes Easy To Diagnose But Difficult To Cure. The Same Thing Occurs In Affairs Of State; For By Recognizing From Afar The Diseases That Are Spreading In The State (which Is A Gift Given Only To The Prudent Ruler), They Can Be Cured Quickly; But When, Not Having Been Recognized, They Are Not Recognized And Are Left To Grow To The Extent That Everyone Recognizes Them, There Is No Longer Any Cure.
Physicians
Disease
Afar
Whoever Takes It Upon Himself To Establish A Commonwealth And Prescribe Laws Must Presuppose All Men Naturally Bad, And That They Will Yield To Their Innate Evil Passions As Often As They Can Do So With Safety.
Passion
Men
Yield
Good Order Makes Men Bold, And Confusion, Cowards.
War
Men
Order
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.
Love
Two
Together
One Can Say This In General Of Men: They Are Ungrateful, Disloyal, Insincere And Deceitful, Timid Of Danger And Avid Of Profit...love Is A Bond Of Obligation That These Miserable Creatures Break Whenever It Suits Them To Do So; But Fear Holds Them Fast By A Dread Of Punishment That Never Passes.
Love Is
Men
Avid
The State Is Not An Organism Capable Of Bringing Either Moral Or Material Improvements To The Populace...but Merely A Vehicle Of Power For The Men And Party In Power.
Party
Men
Moral
The Leader Should Know How To Enter Into Evil When Necessity Commands.
Evil
Leader
Should
It Is A Common Failing Of Man Not To Take Account Of Tempests During Fair Weather.
Men
Weather
Common
Men Seldom Rise From Low Condition To High Rank Without Employing Either Force Or Fraud, Unless That Rank Should Be Attained Either By Gift Or Inheritance.
Power
Men
Inheritance
The Reply Is, That One Ought To Be Both Feared And Loved, But As It Is Difficult For The Two To Go Together, It Is Much Safer To Be Feared Than Loved, If One Of The Two Has To Be Wanting. For It May Be Said Of Men In General That They Are Ungrateful, Voluble, Dissemblers, Anxious To Avoid Danger, And Covetous Of Gain; As Long As You Benefit Them, They Are Entirely Yours; They Offer You Their Blood, Their Goods, Their Life, And Their Children, As I Have Before Said, When The Necessity Is Remote; But When It Approaches, They Revolt.
Art
Children
War
Since The Handling Of Arms Is A Beautiful Spectacle, It Is Delightful To Young Men.
Beautiful
Art
War
How Laudable It Is For A Prince To Keep Good Faith And Live With Integrity, And Not With Astuteness, Every One Knows. Still The Experience Of Our Times Shows Those Princes To Have Done Great Things Who Have Had Little Regard For Good Faith, And Have Been Able By Astuteness To Confuse Men's Brains, And Who Have Ultimately Overcome Those Who Have Made Loyalty Their Foundation.
Loyalty
Art
Integrity
The Wise Man Does At Once What The Fool Does Finally.
Wise
Wisdom
Opportunity
If An Injury Has To Be Done To A Man It Should Be So Severe That His Vengeance Need Not Be Feared.
Revenge
Men
Needs
Men Are Less Hesitant About Harming Someone Who Makes Himself Loved Than One Who Makes Himself Feared Because Love Is Held Together By A Chain Of Obligation Which, Since Men Are Wretched Creatures, Is Broken On Every Occasion In Which Their Own Interests Are Concerned; But Fear Is Sustained By Dread Of Punishment Which Will Never Abandon You.
Love Is
Men
Broken
Speaking Generally, Men Are Ungrateful, Fickle, Hypocritical, Fearful Odanger And Covetous Ogain.
Men
Ungrateful
Fickle
Nature That Framed Us Of Four Elements, Warring Within Our Breasts For Regiment, Doth Teach Us All To Have Aspiring Minds.
Nature
Teaching
Ambition
The Peasant Wants Only To Be Left Alone To Prosper In Peace.
Want
Peasants
Left Alone
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.
Confidence
Gun
People
He Who Makes War His Profession Cannot Be Otherwise Than Vicious. War Makes Thieves, And Peace Brings Them To The Gallows.
War
Thieves
Vicious
When Settling Disputes Between His Subjects, He Should Ensure That His Judgement Is Irrevocable; And He Should Be So Regarded That No One Ever Dreams Of Trying To Deceive Or Trick Him.
Dream
Art
War
It Makes Him Contemptible To Be Considered Fickle, Frivolous, Effeminate, Mean-spirited, Irresolute, From All Of Which A Prince Should Guard Himself As From A Rock; And He Should Endeavour To Show In His Actions Greatness, Courage, Gravity, And Fortitude; And In His Private Dealings With His Subjects Let Him Show That His Judgments Are Irrevocable, And Maintain Himself In Such Reputation That No One Can Hope Either To Deceive Him Or To Get Round Him.
Art
War
Mean
Politics Have No Relation To Morals.
Political
Nerd
Politics
And Here One Must Not That Hatred Is Acquired Just As Much By Means Of Good Actions As By Bad Ones; And So, As I Said Above, If A Prince Wishes To Maintain The State, He Is Often Obliged Not To Be Good; Because Whenever That Group Which You Believe You Need To Support You Is Corrupted, Whether It Be The Common People, The Soldiers, Or The Nobles, It Is To Your Advantage To Follow Their Inclinations In Order To Satisfy Them; And Then Good Actions Are Your Enemy.
Believe
Mean
Order
One Should Never Permit A Disorder To Persist In Order To Avoid A War, For Wars Cannot Be Avoided And Can Only Be Deferred To The Advantage Of Others.
Peace
War
Order
In War, Discipline Can Do More Than Fury.
Art
War
Discipline
No Proceeding Is Better Than That Which You Have Concealed From The Enemy Until The Time You Have Executed It. To Know How To Recognize An Opportunity In War, And Take It, Benefits You More Than Anything Else. Nature Creates Few Men Brave, Industry And Training Makes Many. Discipline In War Counts More Than Fury.
Art
War
Opportunity
Then Also Pretexts For Seizing Property Are Never Wanting, And One Who Begins To Live By Rapine Will Always Find Some Reason For Taking The Goods Of Others, Whereas Causes For Taking Life Are Rarer And More Quickly Destroyed.
Art
War
Causes
The Answer Is, Of Course, That It Would Be Best To Be Both Loved And Feared. But Since The Two Rarely Come Together, Anyone Compelled To Choose Will Find Greater Security In Being Feared Than In Being Loved.
Two
Together
Would Be
For A Prince Should Have Two Fears: One, Internal Concerning His Subjects; The Other, External, Concerning Foreign Powers. From The Latter He Can Always Defend Himself By His Good Troops And Friends; And He Will Always Have Good Friends If He Has Good Troops.
Good Friend
Should Have
Two
One Should Never Risk One's Whole Fortune Unless Supported By One's Entire Forces.
War
Risk
Should
For Government Consists In Nothing Else But So Controlling Subjects That They Shall Neither Be Able To, Nor Have Cause To Do [it] Harm.
Government
Able
Causes
I Say That Every Prince Must Desire To Be Considered Merciful And Not Cruel. He Must, However, Take Care Not To Misuse This Mercifulness.
Art
War
Desire
There Are Three Kinds Of Brains: One Understands Of Itself, Another Can Be Taught To Understand, And The Third Can Neither Understand To Itself Or Be Taught To Understand.
Understanding
Brain
Three
No Enterprise Is More Likely To Succeed Than One Concealed From The Enemy Until It Is Ripe For Execution.
Business
War
Philosophical
In Conclusion, The Arms Of Others Either Fall From Your Back, Or They Weigh You Down, Or They Bind You Fast.
Fall
Arms
Conclusion
He Who Builds On The People, Builds On The Mud
People
Mud
Only Those Means Of Security Are Good, Are Certain, Are Lasting, That Depend On Yourself And Your Own Vigor.
Mean
Vigor
Certain
Many Have Imagined Republics And Principalities Which Have Never Been Seen Or Known To Exist In Reality; For How We Live Is So Far Removed From How We Ought To Live, That He Who Abandons What Is Done For What Ought To Be Done, Will Rather Bring About His Own Ruin Than His Preservation.
Art
War
Reality
People Should Either Be Caressed Or Crushed. If You Do Them Minor Damage They Will Get Their Revenge; But If You Cripple Them There Is Nothing They Can Do. If You Need To Injure Someone, Do It In Such A Way That You Do Not Have To Fear Their Vengeance.
Revenge
Badass
Bad Ass
A Multitude Is Strong While It Holds Together, But So Soon As Each Of Those Who Compose It Begins Ro Think Of His Own Private Danger, It Becomes Weak And Contemptible.
Strong
Thinking
Together
The Prince Who Relies Upon Their Words, Without Having Otherwise Provided For His Security, Is Ruined; For Friendships That Are Won By Awards, And Not By Greatness And Nobility Of Soul, Although Deserved, Yet Are Not Real, And Cannot Be Depended Upon In Time Of Adversity.
Time
Real
Adversity
Nothing Is Of Greater Importance In Time Of War Than In Knowing How To Make The Best Use Of A Fair Opportunity When It Is Offered.
Art
War
Opportunity
It Is The Duty Of A Man Of Honor To Teach Others The Good Which He Has Not Been Able To Do Himself Because Of The Malignity Of The Times, That This Good Finally Can Be Done By Another More Loved In Heaven.
Men
Heaven
Honor
It Is Not Titles That Honor Men, But Men That Honor Titles.
Philosophical
Men
Honor
For As Good Habits Of The People Require Good Laws To Support Them, So Laws, To Be Observed, Need Good Habits On The Part Of The People.
Law
People
Support
Laa Shay'a Waqi'un Moutlaq Bale Kouloun Moumkine...we Work In The Dark, To Serve The Light.
Dark
Light
Shay
A Prince Who Is Not Himself Wise Cannot Be Wisely Advised. . . . Good Advice Depends On The Shrewdness Of The Prince Who Seeks It, And Not The Shrewdness Of The Prince On Good Advice.
Wise
Advice
Shrewdness
We Must Distinguish Between Those Who Depend On Others, That Is Between Those Who To Achieve Their Purposes Can Force The Issue And Those Who Must Use Persuasion. In The Second Case, They Always Come To Grief, Having Achieved Nothing; When, However, They Depend On Their Own Resources And Can Force The Issue, Then They Are Seldom Endangered.
Art
War
Grief
I Hold It To Be A Proof Of Great Prudence For Men To Abstain From Threats And Insulting Words Toward Anyone, For Neither Diminishes The Strength Of The Enemy.
Men
Insulting
Enemy
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.
Love
Children
Crazy
We Must Bear In Mind, Then, That There Is Nothing More Difficult And Dangerous, Or More Doubtful Of Success, Than An Attempt To Introduce A New Order Of Things In Any State. For The Innovator Has For Enemies All Those Who Derived Advantages From The Old Order Of Things, Whilst Those Who Expect To Be Benefited By The New Institutions Will Be But Lukewarm Defenders.
Order
Mind
Enemy
There Is No Other Way To Guard Yourself Against Flattery Than By Making Men Understand That Telling You The Truth Will Not Offend You.
Men
Way
Flattery
I Desire To Go To Hell And Not To Heaven. In The Former I Shall Enjoy The Company Of Popes, Kings And Princes, While In The Latter Are Only Beggars, Monks And Apostles
Death
Kings
Heaven
Therefore It Is Unnecessary For A Prince To Have All The Good Qualities I Have Enumerated, But It Is Very Necessary To Appear To Have Them.
Peace
War
Quality
With Difficulty He Is Beaten Who Can Estimate His Own Forces And Those Of His Enemy.
Enemy
Force
Difficulty
A Wise Man Ought Always To Follow The Paths Beaten By Great Men, And To Imitate Those Who Have Been Supreme, So That If His Ability Does Not Equal Theirs, At Least It Will Savor Of It. Let Him Act Like The Clever Archers Who, Designing To Hit The Mark Which Yet Appears Too Far Distant, And Knowing The Limits To Which The Strength Of Their Bow Attains, Take Aim Much Higher Than The Mark, Not To Reach By Their Strength Or Arrow To So Great A Height, But To Be Able With The Aid Of So High An Aim To Hit The Mark They Wish To Reach.
Strength
Wise
Hope
Necessities Can Be Many, But The One That Is Stronger Is That Which Constrains You To Win Or To Die.
Art
War
Winning
To Ensure Victory The Troops Must Have Confidence In Themselves As Well As In Their Commanders.
War
Victory
Troops
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