Background Image

...

It Should Be Borne In Mind That There Is Nothing More Difficult To Arrange, More Doubtful Of Success, And More Dangerous To Carry Through Than Initiating Changes. The Innovator Makes Enemies Of All Those Who Prospered Under The Old Order, And Only Lukewarm Support Is Forthcoming From Those Who Would Prosper Under The New. Their Support Is Lukewarm ... Partly Because Men Are Generally Incredulous, Never Really Trusting New Things Unless They Have Tested Them By Experience.

-Niccolo Machiavelli

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

It Should Be Borne

Niccolo Machiavelli

...

It Should Be Borne In Mind That There Is Nothing More Difficult To Arrange, More Doubtful Of Success, And More Dangerous To Carry Through Than Initiating Changes. The Innovator Makes Enemies Of All Those Who Prospered Under The Old Order, And Only Lukewarm Support Is Forthcoming From Those Who Would Prosper Under The New. Their Support Is Lukewarm ... Partly Because Men Are Generally Incredulous, Never Really Trusting New Things Unless They Have Tested Them By Experience.

Views: 5

Topic

More From Niccolo Machiavelli

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

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.

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

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

Always Assume Incompetence Before Looking For Conspiracy.

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

No One Should Therefore Fear That He Cannot Accomplish What Others Have Accomplished, For, Men Are Born, Live, And Die In Quite The Same Way They Always Have.

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.

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

Well Used Are Those Cruelties (if It Is Permitted To Speak Well Of Evil) That Are Carried Out In A Single Stroke, Done Out Of Necessity To Protect Oneself, And Are Not Continued But Are Instead Converted Into The Greatest Possible Benefits For The Subjects. Badly Used Are Those Cruelties Which. Although Being Few At The Outset, Grow With The Passing Time Instead Of Disappearing. Those Who Follow The First Method Can Remedy Their Condition With God And With Men; The Others Cannot Possibly Survive.

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

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.

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

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.

You Must Know, Then, That There Are Two Methods Of Fighting, The One By Law, The Other By Force: The First Method Is That Of Men, The Second Of Beasts; But As The First Method Is Often Insufficient, One Must Have Recourse To The Second.

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

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.

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.

For Titles Do Not Reflect Honor On Men, But Rather Men On Their Titles.

Therefore, It Is Necessary To Be A Fox To Discover The Snares And A Lion To Terrify The Wolves

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.

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.

....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.

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

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

So In All Human Affairs One Notices, If One Examines Them Closely, That It Is Impossible To Remove One Inconvenience Without Another Emerging.

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.

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.

Make No Small Plans For They Have No Power To Stir The Soul.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It Makes Him Hated Above All Things, As I Have Said, To Be Rapacious, And To Be A Violator Of The Property And Women Of His Subjects, From Both Of Which He Must Abstain.

Fear Is Secured By A Dread Of Punishment.

Never Lead Your Soldiers To Battle If You Have Not First Confirmed Their Spirit And Known Them To Be Without Fear And Ordered; And Never Test Them Except When You See That They Hope To Win.

Cruelties Should Be Committed All At Once.

A Prince Being Thus Obliged To Know Well How To Act As A Beast Must Imitate The Fox And The Lion, For The Lion Cannot Protect Himself From Snares, And The Fox Cannot Defend Himself From Wolves.

He Who Would Foresee What Is To Happen Should Look To What Has Happened: For All That Is Has Its Counterpart In Time Past.

The Chief Foundations Of All States, New As Well As Old Or Composite, Are Good Laws And Good Arms.

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

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.

...the Incredulity Of Mankind, Who Do Not Truly Believe In Anything New Until They Have Had Actual Experience Of It.

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

The First Method For Estimating The Intelligence Of A Ruler Is To Look At The Men He Has Around Him.

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.

There Is Nothing As Likely To Succeed As What The Enemy Believes You Cannot Attempt.

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

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.

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.

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.

Appear As You May Wish To Be

War Brings Out Thieves And Peace Hangs Them.

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

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

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.

With Difficulty He Is Beaten Who Can Estimate His Own Forces And Those Of His Enemy.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Wise Men Say, And Not Without Reason, That Whosoever Wished To Foresee The Future Might Consult The Past.

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.

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

Decision Making

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

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.

...people Are By Nature Fickle, And It Is Easy To Persuade Them Of Something, But Difficult To Keep Them Persuaded.

A Prince Need Trouble Little About Conspiracies When The People Are Well Disposed, But When They Are Hostile And Hold Him In Hatred, Then He Must Fear Everything And Everybody.

No Enterprise Is More Likely To Succeed Than One Concealed From The Enemy Until It Is Ripe For Execution.

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

The Leader Should Know How To Enter Into Evil When Necessity Commands.

My View Is That It Is Desirable To Be Both Loved And Feared; But It Is Difficult To Achieve Both And, If One Of Them Has To Be Lacking, It Is Much Safer To Be Feared Than Loved.

For, In Truth, There Is No Sure Way Of Holding Other Than By Destroying

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Nothing Feeds Upon Itself As Liberality Does.

Never Was Anything Great Achieved Without Danger.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

A Prince, Therefore, Must Not Mind Incurring The Charge Of Cruelty For The Purpose Of Keeping His Subjects United And Confident; For, With A Very Few Examples, He Will Be More Merciful Than Those Who, From Excess Of Tenderness, Allow Disorders To Arise, From Whence Spring Murders And Rapine; For These As A Rule Injure The Whole Community, While The Executions Carried Out By The Prince Injure Only One Individual. And Of All Princes, It Is Impossible For A New Prince To Escape The Name Of Cruel, New States Being Always Full Of Dangers.

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.

There Should Be Many Judges, For Few Will Always Do The Will Of Few.

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.

For Government Consists In Nothing Else But So Controlling Subjects That They Shall Neither Be Able To, Nor Have Cause To Do [it] Harm.

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.

In Order Not To Annul Our Free Will, I Judge It True That Fortune May Be Mistress Of One Half Our Actions But Then Even She Leaves The Other Half, Or Almost, Under Our Control.

Entrepreneurs Are Simply Those Who Understand That There Is Little Difference Between Obstacle And Opportunity And Are Able To Turn Both To Their Advantage.

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.

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.

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.

All The States And Governments By Which Men Are Or Ever Have Been Ruled, Have Been And Are Either Republics Or Princedoms.

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.

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.

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

Ability And Perseverance Are The Weapons Of Weakness.

If Someone Puts Up The Argument That King Louis Gave The Romagna To Pope Alexander, And The Kingdom Of Naples To Spain, In Order To Avoid A War, I Would Answer As I Did Before: That You Should Never Let Things Get Out Of Hand In Order To Avoid War. You Don't Avoid Such A War, You Merely Postpone It, To Your Own Disadvantage.

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.

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.

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.

Before All Else, Be Armed.

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.

When Men Receive Favours From Someone They Expected To Do Them Ill, They Are Under A Greater Obligation To Their Benefactor.

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.

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.

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.

The Sinews Of War Are Not Gold, But Good Soldiers.

A Wise Prince Will Seek Means By Which His Subjects Will Always And In Every Possible Condition Of Things Have Need Of His Government, And Then They Will Always Be Faithful To Him.

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.

It Is A Foolish Prince Who Entrusts The Safety Of His Lands To Hired Men.

Men Ought Either To Be Well Treated Or Crushed, Because They Can Avenge Themselves Of Lighter Injuries, Of More Serious Ones They Cannot; Therefore The Injury That Is To Be Done To A Man Ought To Be Of Such A Kind That One Does Not Stand In Fear Of Revenge.

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

It Is Better To Be Adventurous Than Cautious, Because Fortune Is A Woman.

I Say That Every Prince Must Desire To Be Considered Merciful And Not Cruel. He Must, However, Take Care Not To Misuse This Mercifulness.

The Promise Given Was A Necessity Of The Past: The Word Broken Is A Necessity Of The Present.

Keeping Promises

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?

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.

Change Has No Constituency.

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

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

One Must Consider The Final Result

Ends Justify The Means

...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.

Is It Better To Be Loved Or Feared?

An Armed Republic Submits Less Easily To The Rule Of One Of Its Citizens Than A Republic Armed By Foreign Forces. Rome And Sparta Were For Many Centuries Well Armed And Free. The Swiss Are Well Armed And Enjoy Great Freedom. Among Other Evils Caused By Being Disarmed, It Renders You Contemptible. It Is Not Reasonable To Suppose That One Who Is Armed Will Obey Willingly One Who Is Unarmed; Or That Any Unarmed Man Will Remain Safe Among Armed Servants.

A Wise Man Will See To It That His Acts Always Seem Voluntary And Not Done By Compulsion, However Much He May Be Compelled By Necessity.

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.

I Hope And Hoping Feeds My Pain I Weep And Weeping Feeds My Failing Heart I Laugh But The Laughter Does Not Pass Within I Burn But The Burning Makes No Mark Outside.

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.

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.

A Prince Must Not Have Any Objective Nor Any Thought, Nor Take Up Any Art, Other Than The Art Of War And Its Ordering And Discipline; Because It Is The Only Art That Pertains To Him Who Commands. And It Is Of Such Virtue That Not Only Does It Maintain Those Who Were Born Princes, But Many Times Makes Men Rise To That Rank From Private Station.

Tardiness Often Robs Us Opportunity, And The Dispatch Of Our Forces.

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.

Because Just As Good Morals, If They Are To Be Maintained, Have Need Of The Laws, So The Laws, If They Are To Be Observed, Have Need Of Good Morals.

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.

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.

He Who Blinded By Ambition, Raises Himself To A Position Whence He Cannot Mount Higher, Must Thereafter Fall With The Greatest Loss.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Human Beings Remain Constant In Their Methods Of Conduct.

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.

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

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.

The Swiss Are Well Armed And Enjoy Great Freedom.

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

Second Amendment

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

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.

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

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

Princes And Governments Are Far More Dangerous Than Other Elements Within Society.

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. And I Shall Dare To Say This Also, That To Have Them And Always To Observe Them Is Injurious, And That To Appear To Have Them Is Useful; To Appear Merciful, Faithful, Humane, Religious, Upright, And To Be So, But With A Mind So Framed That Should You Require Not To Be So, You May Be Able And Know How To Change To The Opposite.

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.

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

A Battle That You Win Cancels Any Other Bad Action Of Yours. In The Same Way, By Losing One, All The Good Things Worked By You Before Become Vain.

Since The Handling Of Arms Is A Beautiful Spectacle, It Is Delightful To Young Men.

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

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.

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

A Prince Never Lacks Legitimate Reasons To Break His Promise.

Keeping Promises

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.

Never Do Your Enemy A Minor Injury.

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

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.

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.

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

War Is A Profession By Which A Man Cannot Live Honorably; An Employment By Which The Soldier, If He Would Reap Any Profit, Is Obliged To Be False, Rapacious, And Cruel.

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 The Great Majority Of Mankind Are Satisfied With Appearances, As Though They Were Realities, And Are Often More Influenced By The Things That Seem Than By Those That Are.

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

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

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.

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.

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 Wise Man Does At Once What The Fool Does Finally.

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

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

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

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

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.

To Ensure Victory The Troops Must Have Confidence In Themselves As Well As In Their Commanders.

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.

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.

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.

He Who Desires Or Attempts To Reform The Government Of A State And Wishes To Have It Accepted, Must At Least Retain The Semblance Of The Old Forms; So That It May Seem To The People That There Has Been No Change In The Institutions, Even Though In Fact They Are Entirely Different From The Old Ones. For The Great Majority Of Mankind Are Satisfied With Appearances, As Though They Were Realities.

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.

Impetuosity And Audacity Often Achieve What Ordinary Means Fail To Achieve.

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

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.

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.

...it Behooves Us To Adapt Oneself To The Times If One Wants To Enjoy Continued Good Fortune.

(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.

Trending Author

Category