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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.

-Niccolo Machiavelli

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Therefore, In Order Not

Niccolo Machiavelli

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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.

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

The Ends Justifies The Means.

Ends Justify The Means

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.

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

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.

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

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

Men Ought Either To Be Well Treated, Or Crushed.

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

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.

One Arises From A Low To A High Station More Often By Using Fraud Instead Of Force.

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.

Always Assume Incompetence Before Looking For Conspiracy.

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

...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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Change Has No Constituency.

Every One Sees What You Appear To Be, Few Really Know What You Are, And Those Few Dare Not Oppose Themselves To The Opinion Of The Many, Who Have The Majesty Of The State To Defend Them.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Occasionally Words Must Serve To Veil The Facts. But Let This Happen In Such A Way That No One Become Aware Of It; Or, If It Should Be Noticed, Excuses Must Be At Hand To Be Produced Immediately.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

That Prince Is Highly Esteemed Who Conveys This Impression Of Himself, And He Who Is Highly Esteemed Is Not Easily Conspired Against; For, Provided It Is Well Known That He Is An Excellent Man And Revered By His People, He Can Only Be Attacked With Difficulty.

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

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.

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?

Delusion Gives You More Happiness Than Truth Gives To Me. For Injuries Ought To Be Done All At One Time, So That, Being Tasted Less, They Offend Less; Benefits Ought To Be Given Little By Little, So That The Flavour Of Them May Last Longer.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

He Who Is The Cause Of Another's Advancement Is Thereby The Cause Of His Own Ruin.

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 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.

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

Men Are Always Wicked At Bottom Unless They Are Made Good By Some Compulsion.

Then Also Pretexts For Seizing Property Are Never Wanting, And One Who Begins To Live By Rapine Will Always Find Some Reason For Taking The Goods Of Others, Whereas Causes For Taking Life Are Rarer And More Quickly Destroyed.

....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.

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

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

A Prince Never Lacks Legitimate Reasons To Break His Promise.

Keeping Promises

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

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.

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

Good Order Makes Men Bold, And Confusion, Cowards.

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.

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

For He Who Innovates Will Have For His Enemies All Those Who Are Well Off Under The Existing Order Of Things, And Only Lukewarm Supporters In Those Who Might Be Better Off Under The New.

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.

The Swiss Are Well Armed And Enjoy Great Freedom.

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

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.

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.

War Should Be The Only Study Of A Prince. He Should Consider Peace Only As A Breathing-time, Which Gives Him Leisure To Contrive, And Furnishes As Ability To Execute, Military Plans.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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.

Cruelties Should Be Committed All At Once.

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.

Men Are So Simple And So Much Inclined To Obey Immediate Needs That A Deceiver Will Never Lack Victims For His Deceptions.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

There Is Nothing So Difficult Or So Dangerous As To Undertake To Change The Order Of Things.

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.

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.

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

Appear As You May Wish To Be

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

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

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

There Is Nothing That Nature Seems To Have Inclined Us To As Much As Society.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

Laa Shay'a Waqi'un Moutlaq Bale Kouloun Moumkine...we Work In The Dark, To Serve The Light.

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.

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.

Forgiveness Proceeds From A Generous Soul.

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.]

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.

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.

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.

Where The Willingness Is Great, The Difficulties Cannot Be Great.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

How Perilous It Is To Free A People Who Prefer Slavery.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Ability And Perseverance Are The Weapons Of Weakness.

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

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

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

Anyone Who Becomes Master Of A City Accustomed To Freedom And Does Not Destroy It May Expect To Be Destroyed By It; For Such A City May Always Justify Rebellion In The Name Of Liberty And Its Ancient Institutions.

The Wish To Acquire More Is Admittedly A Very Natural And Common Thing; And When Men Succeed In This They Are Always Praised Rather Than Condemned. But When They Lack The Ability To Do So And Yet Want To Acquire More At All Costs, They Deserve Condemnation For Their Mistakes.

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.

Nothing Feeds Upon Itself As Liberality Does.

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

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 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

When Evening Comes, I Return Home And Go Into My Study. On The Threshold I Strip Off My Muddy, Sweaty Clothes Of Everyday, And Put On The Robes Of Court And Palace, And In This Graver Dress I Enter The Antique Courts Of The Ancients And Am Welcomed By Them, And There I Taste The Food That Alone Is Mine, And For Which I Was Born. And There I Make Bold To Speak To Them And Ask The Motives Of Their Actions, And They, In Their Humanity, Reply To Me. And For The Space Of Four Hours I Forget The World, Remember No Vexation, Fear Poverty No More, Tremble No More At Death; I Pass Indeed Into Their World.

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

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

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.

One Change Always Leaves The Way Open For The Establishment Of Others.

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

Rome Remained Free For Four Hundred Years And Sparta Eight Hundred, Although Their Citizens Were Armed All That Time; But Many Other States That Have Been Disarmed Have Lost Their Liberties In Less Than Forty Years.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

How Laudable It Is For A Prince To Keep Good Faith And Live With Integrity, And Not With Astuteness, Every One Knows. Still The Experience Of Our Times Shows Those Princes To Have Done Great Things Who Have Had Little Regard For Good Faith, And Have Been Able By Astuteness To Confuse Men's Brains, And Who Have Ultimately Overcome Those Who Have Made Loyalty Their Foundation.

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

....those Who Become Princes Through Their Skill Acquire The Pricipality With Difficulty, Buy They Hold Onto It With Ease.

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

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.

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 All Your Mistakes.

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

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

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.

There Is Nothing More Important Than Appearing To Be Religious.

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

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.

Is It Better To Be Loved Or Feared?

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

It Is Just As Difficult And Dangerous To Try To Free A People That Wants To Remain Servile As It Is To Enslave A People That Wants To Remain Free.

Politics Have No Relation To Morals.

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

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.

(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.

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.

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.

It Is Double Pleasure To Deceive The Deceiver.

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.

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

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Lyndon B. Johnson

Vincent Nichols

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