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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.

-Niccolo Machiavelli

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The Romans Never Allowed

Niccolo Machiavelli

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

In Conclusion, The Arms Of Others Either Fall From Your Back, Or They Weigh You Down, Or They Bind You Fast.

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

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

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.

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

Politics Have No Relation To Morals.

Nevertheless, He Must Be Cautious In Believing And Acting, And Must Not Inspire Fear Of His Own Accord, And Must Proceed In A Temperate Manner With Prudence And Humanity, So That Too Much Confidence Does Not Render Him Incautious, And Too Much Diffidence Does Not Render Him Intolerant. From This Arises The Question Whether It Is Better To Be Loved More Than Feared, Or Feared More Than Loved.

To Be Feared Is Much Safer Then To Be Loved.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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.]

And When Neither Their Property Nor Honour Is Touched, The Majority Of Men Live Content, And He Has Only To Contend With The Ambition Of A Few, Whom He Can Curb With Ease In Many Ways.

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.

Therefore, A Prudent Ruler Ought Not To Keep Faith When By So Doing It Would Be Against His Interest, And When The Reasons Which Made Him Bind Himself No Longer Exist. If Men Were All Good, This Precept Would Not Be A Good One; But As They Are Bad, And Would Not Observe Their Faith With You, So You Are Not Bound To Keep Faith With Them.

Is It Better To Be Loved Or Feared?

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.

To Know Well The Nature Of The People One Must Be A Prince, And To Know Well The Nature Of Princes One Must Be Of The People.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Few Men Are Brave By Nature, But Good Discipline And Experience Make Many So.

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.

In Our Own Days We Have Seen No Princes Accomplish Great Results Save Those Who Have Been Accounted Miserly.

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

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.

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

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

Men Are So Simple And Yield So Readily To The Desires Of The Moment That He Who Will Trick Will Always Find Another Who Will Suffer To Be Tricked.

A Wise Prince Then...should Never Be Idle In Times Of Peace But Should Industriously Lay Up Stores Of Which To Avail Himself In Times Of Adversity So That When Fortune Abandons Him He May Be Prepared To Resist Her Blows.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

....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.

Nothing Feeds Upon Itself As Liberality Does.

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

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

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

He Who Has Annexed Them, If He Wishes To Hold Them, Has Only To Bear In Mind Two Considerations: The One, That The Family Of Their Former Lord Is Extinguished; The Other, That Neither Their Laws Nor Their Taxes Are Altered, So That In A Very Short Time They Will Become Entirely One Body With The Old Principality.

There Are Three Kinds Of Intelligence: One Kind Understands Things For Itself, The Other Appreciates What Others Can Understand, The Third Understands Neither For Itself Nor Through Others. This First Kind Is Excellent, The Second Good, And The Third Kind Useless.

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.

You Have To Be A Prince To Understand The People, And You Have To Belong To The People To Understand The Princes.

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.

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

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

Keeping Promises

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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 Must Consider The Final Result

Ends Justify The Means

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

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.

Nature That Framed Us Of Four Elements, Warring Within Our Breasts For Regiment, Doth Teach Us All To Have Aspiring Minds.

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

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.

The Vulgar Crowd Always Is Taken By Appearances, And The World Consists Chiefly Of The Vulgar.

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.

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

Men In General Judge More From Appearances Than From Reality. All Men Have Eyes, But Few Have The Gift Of Penetration.

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.

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.

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

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.

Never Was Anything Great Achieved Without Danger.

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.

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.]

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.

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.

A Wise Ruler Ought Never To Keep Faith When By Doing So It Would Be Against His Interests.

War Brings Out Thieves And Peace Hangs Them.

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?

Men Judge Generally More By The Eye Than By The Hand, For Everyone Can See And Few Can Feel. Every One Sees What You Appear To Be, Few Really Know What You Are.

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.

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.

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

A Prince Never Lacks Legitimate Reasons To Break His Promise.

Keeping Promises

Power Is The Pivot On Which Everything Hinges. He Who Has The Power Is Always Right; The Weaker Is Always Wrong.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

So Far As He Is Able, A Prince Should Stick To The Path Of Good But, If The Necessity Arises, He Should Know How To Follow Evil.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

....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.

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

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

The Prince Must Be A Lion, But He Must Also Know How To Play The Fox.

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.

...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.

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

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.

It Is A Common Failing Of Man Not To Take Account Of Tempests During Fair Weather.

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.

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

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.

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.

Appear As You May Wish To Be

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Princes Who Have Done Great Things Are The Ones Who Have Taken Little Account Of Their Promises.

Wisdom Consists Of Knowing How To Distinguish The Nature Of Trouble, And In Choosing The Lesser Evil.

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.

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

Challenging The Status Quo

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good Order Makes Men Bold, And Confusion, Cowards.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

One Should Never Fall In The Belief That You Can Find Someone To Pick You Up.

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.

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

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

It Is Necessary That The Prince Should Know How To Color His Nature Well, And How To Be A Hypocrite And Dissembler. For Men Are So Simple, And Yield So Much To Immediate Necessity, That The Deceiver Will Never Lack Dupes.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Sometimes It Has Been Of Great Moment While The Fight Is Going On, To Disseminate Words That Pronounce The Enemies' Captain To Be Dead, Or To Have Been Conquered By Another Part Of The Army. Many Times This Has Given Victory To Him Who Used It.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

They Have Not Any Difficulties On The Way Up Because They Fly, But They Have Many When They Reach The Summit.

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.

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

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.

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

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

For Among Other Evils Caused By Being Disarmed, It Renders You Contemptible; Which Is One Of Those Disgraceful Things Which A Prince Must Guard Against.

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

The Swiss Are Well Armed And Enjoy Great Freedom.

Cruelties Should Be Committed All At Once.

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.

A Prince Must Be Prudent Enough To Know How To Escape The Bad Reputation Of Those Vices That Would Lose The State For Him, And Must Protect Himself From Those That Will Not Lose It For Him, If This Is Possible; But If He Cannot, He Need Not Concern Himself Unduly If He Ignores These Less Serious Vices.

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.

Human Beings Remain Constant In Their Methods Of Conduct.

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.

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.

Men Generally Decide Upon A Middle Course, Which Is Most Hazardous, For They Know Neither How To Be Entirely Good Nor Entirely Bad.

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

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.

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.

It Is Double Pleasure To Deceive The Deceiver.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

The Ends Justifies The Means.

Ends Justify The Means

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

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.

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

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