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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.

-Niccolo Machiavelli

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It May Be Observed,

Niccolo Machiavelli

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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.

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One Should Never Risk One's Whole Fortune Unless Supported By One's Entire Forces.

There Is Nothing More Important Than Appearing To Be Religious.

Violence Must Be Inflicted Once For All; People Will Then Forget What It Tastes Like And So Be Less Resentful. Benefits Must Be Conferred Gradually; And In That Way They Will Taste Better.

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.

If You Only Notice Human Proceedings, You May Observe That All Who Attain Great Power And Riches, Make Use Of Either Force Or Fraud; And What They Have Acquired Either By Deceit Or Violence, In Order To Conceal The Disgraceful Methods Of Attainment, They Endeavor To Sanctify With The False Title Of Honest Gains.

....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.

Wisdom Consists In Being Able To Distinguish Among Dangers And Make A Choice Of The Least Harmful.

The Ends Justifies The Means.

Ends Justify The Means

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.

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.

Besides What Has Been Said, People Are Fickle By Nature; And It Is A Simple To Convince Them Of Something But Difficult To Hold Them In That Conviction; And, Therefore, Affairs Should Be Managed In Such A Way That When They No Longer Believe, They Can Be Made To Believe By Force.

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.

The New Ruler Must Determine All The Injuries That He Will Need To Inflict. He Must Inflict Them Once And For All.

Decision Making

He Who Makes War His Profession Cannot Be Otherwise Than Vicious. War Makes Thieves, And Peace Brings Them To The Gallows.

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.

A Prince Is Also Respected When He Is A True Friend And A True Enemy; That Is, When He Declares Himself On The Side Of One Prince Against Another Without Any Reservation.

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.

All Who Contribute To The Overthrow Of Religion, Or To The Ruin Of Kingdoms And Commonwealths, All Who Are Foes To Letters And To The Arts Which Confer Honour And Benefit On The Human Race (among Whom I Reckon The Impious, The Cruel, The Ignorant, The Indolent, The Base And The Worthless), Are Held In Infamy And Detestation.

There Is No Other Way To Guard Yourself Against Flattery Than By Making Men Understand That Telling You The Truth Will Not Offend You.

The Peasant Wants Only To Be Left Alone To Prosper In Peace.

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.

A Prince Ought To Have Two Fears, One From Within, On Account Of His Subjects, The Other From Without, On Account Of External Powers.

Never Was Anything Great Achieved Without Danger.

You Must Never Believe That The Enemy Does Not Know How To Conduct His Own Affairs. Indeed, If You Want To Be Deceived Less And Want To Bear Less Danger, The More The Enemy Is Weak Or The Less The Enemy Is Cautious, So Much More Must You Esteem Him.

For This Is The Tragedy Of Man Circumstances Change, But He Does Not.

Speaking Generally, Men Are Ungrateful, Fickle, Hypocritical, Fearful Odanger And Covetous Ogain.

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.

There Is No Avoiding War; It Can Only Be Postponed To The Advantage Of Others.

To Be Feared Is Much Safer Then To Be Loved.

A Wise Ruler Should Rely On What Is Under His Own Control, Not On What Is Under The Control Of Others.

I Consider It A Mark Of Great Prudence In A Man To Abstain From Threats Or Any Contemptuous Expressions, For Neither Of These Weaken The Enemy, But Threats Make Him More Cautious, And The Other Excites His Hatred, And A Desire To Revenge Himself.

For As Laws Are Necessary That Good Manners Be Preserved, So There Is Need Of Good Manners That Law May Be Maintained.

Make Mistakes Of Ambition And Not Mistakes Of Sloth. Develop The Strength To Do Bold Things, Not To Suffer.

Every Little Advantage Is Of Great Moment When Men Have To Come To Blows.

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.

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.

I'm Not Interested In Preserving The Status Quo; I Want To Overthrow It.

Challenging The Status Quo

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.

God Creates Men, But They Choose Each Other.

We Have Not Seen Great Things Done In Our Time Except By Those Who Have Been Considered Mean; The Rest Have Failed.

Men Walk Almost Always In The Paths Trodden By Others, Proceeding In Their Actions By Imitation.

Men Are So Stupid And Concerned With Their Present Needs, They Will Always Let Themselves Be Deceived.

The Lion Cannot Protect Himself From Traps, And The Fox Cannot Defend Himself From Wolves. One Must Therefore Be A Fox To Recognize Traps, And A Lion To Frighten Wolves.

Men May Second Fortune, But They Cannot Thwart Her.

Severities Should Be Dealt Out All At Once, So That Their Suddenness May Give Less Offense; Benefits Ought To Be Handed Ought Drop By Drop, So That They May Be Relished The More.

The Unarmed Man Is Not Just Defenseless - He Is Also Contemptible.

Second Amendment

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 As A Whole Judge More With Their Eyes Than With Their Hands.

It Is Much Safer For The Prince To Be Feared Than Loved, But He Ought To Avoid Making Himself Hated.

Although Deceit Is Detestable In All Other Things, Yet In The Conduct Of War It Is Laudable And Honorable; And A Commander Who Vanquishes An Enemy By Stratagem Is Equally Praised With One Who Gains Victory By Force.

The Forces Of Adversaries Are More Diminished By The Loss Of Those Who Flee Than Of Those Who Are Killed.

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.

Men Are So Simple Of Mind, And So Much Dominated By Their Immediate Needs, That A Deceitful Man Will Always Find Plenty Who Are Ready To Be Deceived.

A Government Which Does Not Trust Its Citizens To Be Armed Is Not Itself To Be Trusted.

It Is Better To Act And Repent Than Not To Act And Regret.

Change Has No Constituency.

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.

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.

As The Observance Of Divine Institutions Is The Cause Of The Greatness Of Republics, So The Disregard Of Them Produces Their Ruin; For Where The Fear Of God Is Wanting, There The Country Will Come To Ruin, Unless It Be Sustained The Fear Of The Prince, Which Temporarily Supply The Want Of Religion.

Without Doubt, Ferocious And Disordered Men Are Much Weaker Than Timid And Ordered Ones. For Order Chases Fear From Men And Disorder Lessens Ferocity.

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.

For Whoever Conquers A Free Town, And Does Not Demolish It, Commits A Great Error, And May Expect To Be Ruin 'd Himself.

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.

The World Has Always Been The Same; And There Is Always As Much Good Fortune As Bad In It.

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.

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

You Know Better Than I That In A Republic Talent Is Always Suspect. A Man Attains An Elevated Position Only When His Mediocrity Prevents Him From Being A Threat To Others. And For This Reason A Democracy Is Never Governed By The Most Competent, But Rather By Those Whose Insignificance Will Not Jeopardize Anyone Else's Self-esteem.

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.

Whosoever Desires Constant Success Must Change His Conduct With The Times.

For As Laws Are Necessary That Good Manners May Be Preserved, So There Is Need Of Good Manner That Laws May Be Maintained. [it., Perche, Cosi Come I Buoni Costumi, Per Mantenersi, Hanno Bisogno Delli Leggi; Cosi Le Leggi Per Ossevarsi, Hanno Bisogno De' Buoni Costumi.]

Men Are More Apt To Be Mistaken In Their Generalizations Than In Their Particular Observations.

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.

When They Remain In Garrison, Soldiers Are Maintained With Fear And Punishment; When They Are Then Led To War, With Hope And Reward.

One Can Generally Say This About Men: That They Are Ungrateful, Fickle, Simulators And Deceivers, Avoiders Of Danger, Greedy For Gain; And While You Work For Their Good They Are Completely Yours, Offering You Their Blood, Their Property, Their Lives, And Their Sons When Danger Is Far Away; But When It Comes Nearer To You, They Turn Away.

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.

A Sign Of Intelligence Is An Awareness Of One's Own Ignorance.

Men In General Judge More By The Sense Of Sight Than By The Sense Of Touch, Because Everyone Can See But Few Can Test By Feeling. Everyone Sees What You Seem To Be, Few Know What You Really Are; And Those Few Do Not Dare Take A Stand Against The General Opinion.

Half Of These Aren't Even Machiavelli. Some Are Plato, Thucydides Etc....doesnt Anyone Check These?

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.

It Is Better To Be Bold Than Too Circumspect, Because Fortune Is Of A Sex Which Likes Not A Tardy Wooer And Repulses All Who Are Not Ardent.

God And Nature Have Thrown All Human Fortunes Into The Midst Of Mankind; And They Are Thus Attainable Rather By Rapine Than By Industry, By Wicked Actions Rather Than By Good. Hence It Is That Men Feed Upon Each Other, And Those Who Cannot Defend Themselves Must Be Worried.

....nothing Is So Unhealthy Or Unstable As The Reputation For Power That Is Not Based On One's Own Power.

Men Nearly Always Follow The Tracks Made By Others And Proceed In Their Affairs By Imitation, Even Though They Cannot Entirely Keep To The Tracks Of Others Or Emulate The Prowess Of Their Models. So A Prudent Man Should Always Follow In The Footsteps Of Great Men And Imitate Those Who Have Been Outstanding.

Imitating Others

A Prince Ought To Have No Other Aim Or Thought, Nor Select Anything Else For His Study, Than War And Its Rules And Discipline; For This Is The Sole Art That Belongs To Him Who Rules, And It Is Of Such Force That It Not Only Upholds Those Who Are Born Princes, But It Often Enables Men To Rise From A Private Station To That Rank. And, On The Contrary, It Is Seen That When Princes Have Thought More Of Ease Than Of Arms They Have Lost Their States. And The First Cause Of Your Losing It Is To Neglect This Art; And What Enables You To Acquire A State Is To Be Master Of The Art.

And If, To Be Sure, Sometimes You Need To Conceal A Fact With Words, Do It In Such A Way That It Does Not Become Known, Or, If It Does Become Known, That You Have A Ready And Quick Defense.

Everyone Sees What You Appear To Be, Few Experience What You Really Are.

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.

All The Armed Prophets Conquered; All The Unarmed Ones Perished.

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.

And It Will Always Happen That He Who Is Not Your Friend Will Request Your Neutrality And He Who Is Your Friend Will Ask You To Declare Yourself By Taking Up Arms. And Irresolute Princes, In Order To Avoid Present Dangers, Follow The Neutral Road Most Of The Time, And Most Of The Time They Are Ruined.

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.

Nature Creates Few Men Brave, Industry And Training Makes Many.

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.

Gold Will Not Always Get You Good Soldiers, But Good Soldiers Can Get You Gold.

We Cannot Attribute To Fortune Or Virtue That Which Is Achieved Without Either.

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.

Men Rise From One Ambition To Another: First, They Seek To Secure Themselves Against Attack, And Then They Attack Others.

Never Do An Enemy A Small Injury.

Politics Have No Relation To Morals.

God Is Not Willing To Do Everything, And Thus Take Away Our Free Will And That Share Of Glory Which Belongs To Us.

War Is Just When It Is Necessary; Arms Are Permissible When There Is No Hope Except In Arms.

When You Disarm Your Subjects, However, You Offend Them By Showing That Either From Cowardliness Or Lack Of Faith, You Distrust Them; And Either Conclusion Will Induce Them To Hate You.

Those Who Either From Imprudence Or Want Of Sagacity Avoid Doing So, Are Always Overwhelmed With Servitude And Poverty; For Faithful Servants Are Always Servants, And Honest Men Are Always Poor; Nor Do Any Ever Escape From Servitude But The Bold And Faithless, Or From Poverty, But The Rapacious And Fraudulent.

Results Are Often Obtained By Impetuosity And Daring Which Could Never Have Been Obtained By Ordinary Methods.

Men Should Be Either Treated Generously Or Destroyed, Because They Take Revenge For Slight Injuries - For Heavy Ones They Cannot.

So Long As The Great Majority Of Men Are Not Deprived Of Either Property Or Honor, They Are Satisfied.

Necessities Can Be Many, But The One That Is Stronger Is That Which Constrains You To Win Or To Die.

He Who Neglects What Is Done For What Ought To Be Done, Sooner Effects His Ruin Than His Preservation.

....for Friendships That Are Acquired By A Price And Not By Greatness And Nobility Of Character Are Purchased But Are Not Owned, And At The Proper Moment They Cannot Be Spent.

Men Are Driven By Two Principal Impulses, Either By Love Or By Fear.

To Keep Your Actions And Your Plans Secret Always Has Been A Very Good Thing . .. Marcus Crassus Said To One Who Asked Him When He Was Going To Move The Army: 'do You Believe That You Will Be The Only One Not To Hear The Trumpet?

In Respect To Foresight And Firmness, The People Are More Prudent, More Stable, And Have Better Judgement Than Princes.

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.

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.

...it Is A Base Thing To Look To Others For Your Defense Instead Of Depending Upon Yourself. That Defense Alone Is Effectual, Sure, And Durable Which Depends Upon Yourself And Your Own Valor.

The Wise Man Does At Once What The Fool Does Finally.

If An Injury Has To Be Done To A Man It Should Be So Severe That His Vengeance Need Not Be Feared.

Men Are Always Averse To Enterprises In Which They Foresee Difficulties.

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.

The Greatest Remedy That Is Used Against A Plan Of The Enemy Is To Do Voluntarily What He Plans That You Do By Force.

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.

Men Are More Ready To Offend One Who Desires To Be Beloved Than One Who Wishes To Be Feared.

He Who Has Once Begun To Live By Rapine Always Finds Reasons For Taking What Is Not His.

There Is No Surer Sign Of Decay In A Country Than To See The Rites Of Religion Held In Contempt.

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.

There Are Three Kinds Of Minds: First Those That Attain Insight And Understanding Of Things By Their Own Means, Then Those That Recognize What Is Right When Others Explain It To Them, And Finally Those That Are Capable Of Neither One Nor The Other.

One Should Never Allow Chaos To Develop In Order To Avoid Going To War, Because One Does Not Avoid A War But Instead Puts It Off To His Disadvantage

As The Physicians Say It Happens In Hectic Fever, That In The Beginning Of The Malady It Is Easy To Cure But Difficult To Detect, But In The Course Of Time, Not Having Been Either Detected Or Treated In The Beginning, It Becomes Easy To Detect But Difficult To Cure

One Can Make This Generalization About Men: They Are Ungrateful, Fickle, Liars, And Deceivers, They Shun Danger And Are Greedy For Profit; While You Treat Them Well, They Are Yours. They Would Shed Their Blood For You, Risk Their Property, Their Lives, Their Children, So Long, As I Said Above, As Danger Is Remote; But When You Are In Danger They Turn Against You.

Men Are Of Three Different Capacities: One Understands Intuitively; Another Understands So Far As It Is Explained; And A Third Understands Neither Of Himself Nor By Explanation. The First Is Excellent, The Second, Commendable, And The Third, Altogether Useless.

Benefits Should Be Granted Little By Little, So That They May Be Better Enjoyed.

Republics Have A Longer Life And Enjoy Better Fortune Than Principalities, Because They Can Profit By Their Greater Internal Diversity. They Are The Better Able To Meet Emergencies.

Nothing Feeds Upon Itself As Liberality Does.

He Who Becomes A Prince Through The Favour Of The People Should Always Keep On Good Terms With Them; Which It Is Easy For Him To Do, Since All They Ask Is Not To Be Oppressed

Men Shrink Less From Offending One Who Inspires Love Than One Who Inspires Fear.

Whoever Is The Cause Of Another Becoming Powerful, Is Ruined Himself.

Any Harm You Do To A Man Should Be Done In Such A Way That You Need Not Fear His Revenge.

By The Delusions Of Seeming Good The People Are Often Misled To Desire Their Own Ruin; And They Are Frequently Influenced By Great Hopes And Brave Promises.

When Every Province Of The World So Teems With Inhabitants That They Can Neither Subsist Where They Are Nor Remove Themselves Elsewhere.

It Is Much Safer To Be Feared Than Loved Because ...love Is Preserved By The Link Of Obligation Which, Owing To The Baseness Of Men, Is Broken At Every Opportunity For Their Advantage; But Fear Preserves You By A Dread Of Punishment Which Never Fails.

A Prudent Man... Must Behave Like Those Archers Who, If They Are Skillful, When The Target Seems Too Distant, Know The Capabilities Of Their Bow And Aim A Good Deal Higher Than Their Objective, Not In Order To Shoot So High But So That By Aiming High They Can Reach The Target.

A Battle That You Win Cancels All Your Mistakes.

Any Man Who Tries To Be Good All The Time Is Bound To Come To Ruin Among The Great Number Who Are Not Good.

From This Arises The Question Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Rather Than Feared, Or Feared Rather Than Loved. It Might Perhaps Be Answered That We Should Wish To Be Both: But Since Love And Fear Can Hardly Exist Together, If We Must Choose Between Them, It Is Far Safer To Be Feared Than Loved.

Some Princes, So As To Hold Securely The State, Have Disarmed Their Subjects, Others Have Kept Their Subject Towns Distracted By Factions...our Forefathers, And Those Who Were Reckoned Wise, Were Accustomed To Say That It Was Necessary To Hold Pistoia [an Italian City] By Factions And Pisa By Fortress, And With This Idea They Fostered Quarrels In Some Of Their Tributary Towns So As To Keep Possession Of Them The More Easily.

Among Other Causes Of Misfortune Which Your Not Being Armed Brings Upon You, It Makes You Despised.

Appear As You May Wish To Be

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.

Men Are Able To Assist Fortune But Not To Thwart Her. They Can Weave Her Designs, But They Cannot Destroy Them.

Hence It Comes That All Armed Prophets Have Been Victorious, And All Unarmed Prophets Have Been Destroyed.

Where The Very Safety Of The Country Depends Upon The Resolution To Be Taken, No Consideration Of Justice Or Injustice, Humanity Or Cruelty, Nor Of Glory Or Of Shame, Should Be Allowed To Prevail. But Putting All Other Considerations Aside, The Only Question Should Be: What Course Will Save The Life And Liberty Of The Country?

Human Beings Remain Constant In Their Methods Of Conduct.

One Must Be A Fox To Recognize Traps And A Lion To Frighten Wolves

One Man Should Not Be Afraid Of Improving His Posessions, Lest They Be Taken Away From Him, Or Another Deterred By High Taxes From Starting A New Business. Rather, The Prince Should Be Ready To Reward Men Who Want To Do These Things And Those Who Endeavour In Any Way To Increase The Prosperity Of Their City Or Their State.

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.

He Who Wishes To Be Obeyed Must Know How To Command.

Is It Better To Be Loved Or Feared?

The Best Fortress Which A Prince Can Possess Is The Affection Of His People.

For One Change Always Leaves A Dovetail Into Which Another Will Fit.

The End Of The Republic Is To Enervate And To Weaken All Other Bodies So As To Increase Its Own Body.

And When He Is Obliged To Take The Life Of Any One, To Do So When There Is A Proper Justification And Manifest Reason For It; But Above All He Must Abstain From Taking The Property Of Others, For Men Forget More Easily The Death Of Their Father Than The Loss Of Their Patrimony.

A Son Could Bear With Great Complacency, The Death Of His Father, While The Loss Of His Inheritance Might Drive Him To Despair.

Prudence Therefore Consists In Knowing How To Distinguish Degrees Of Disadvantage.

A Blast In The Human Breast Is Nothing To Boast Of.

One Who Deceives Will Always Find Those Who Allow Themselves To Be Deceived.

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.

Good Order And Discipline In Any Army Are To Be Depended Upon More Than Courage Alone.

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.

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.

Never Do Your Enemy A Minor Injury.

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.

It Is Often Found That Modesty And Humility Not Only Do No Good, But Are Positively Hurtful, When They Are Shown To The Arrogant Who Have Taken Up A Prejudice Against You, Either From Envy Or From Any Other Cause.

It Is Not Titles That Honor Men, But Men That Honor Titles.

Everyone Who Wants To Know What Will Happen Ought To Examine What Has Happened: Everything In This World In Any Epoch Has Their Replicas In Antiquity.

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.

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.

In War, Discipline Can Do More Than Fury.

When Fortune Wishes To Bring Mighty Events To A Successful Conclusion, She Selects Some Man Of Spirit And Ability Who Knows How To Seize The Opportunity She Offers.

It Is Much Better To Tempt Fortune Where It Can Favor You Than To See Your Certain Ruin By Not Tempting It.

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

For Without Invention, No One Was Ever A Great Man In His Own Trade.

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.

All Courses Of Action Are Risky, So Prudence Is Not In Avoiding Danger (it's Impossible), But Calculating Risk And Acting Decisively. Make Mistakes Of Ambition And Not Mistakes Of Sloth. Develop The Strength To Do Bold Things, Not The Strength To Suffer.

Hatred Is Gained As Much By Good Works As By Evil.

When Neither Their Property Nor Their Honor Is Touched, The Majority Of Men Live Content.

Only Those Means Of Security Are Good, Are Certain, Are Lasting, That Depend On Yourself And Your Own Vigor.

The More Sand Has Escaped From The Hourglass Of Our Life, The Clearer We Should See Through It.

The Prince Must Consider, As Has Been In Part Said Before, How To Avoid Those Things Which Will Make Him Hated Or Contemptible; And As Often As He Shall Have Succeeded He Will Have Fulfilled His Part, And He Need Not Fear Any Danger In Other Reproaches.

A Son Can Bear With Equanimity The Loss Of His Father, But The Loss Of His Inheritance May Drive Him To Despair.

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.

One Must Consider The Final Result

Ends Justify The Means

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.

To Know In War How To Recognize An Opportunity And Seize It Is Better Than Anything Else.

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.

Men Never Do Good Unless Necessity Drives Them To It; But When They Are Free To Choose And Can Do Just As They Please, Confusion And Disorder Become Rampant.

Present Wars Impoverish The Lords That Win As Much As Those That Lose.

Men Ought Either To Be Well Treated, Or Crushed.

Among Other Evils Which Being Unarmed Brings You, It Causes You To Be Despised.

A Prince... Must Learn From The Fox And The Lion... One Must Be A Fox In Order To Recognize Traps, And A Lion To Frighten Off Wolves. Those Who Act Simply As Lions Are Stupid. So It Follows That A Prudent Ruler Cannot, And Must Not, Honour His Word When It Places Him At A Disadvantage And When The Reasons For Which He Made His Promise No Longer Exist.

For The Mob Is Always Impressed By Appearances And By Results, And The World Is Composed Of The Mob.

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