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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.

-Niccolo Machiavelli

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Violence Must Be Inflicted

Niccolo Machiavelli

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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.

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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.

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.

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

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

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

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

It Is A True Observation Of Ancient Writers, That As Men Are Apt To Be Cast Down By Adversity, So They, Are Easily Satiated With Prosperity, And That Joy And Grief Produce The Same Effects. For Whenever Men Are Not Obliged By Necessity To Fight They Fight From Ambition, Which Is So Powerful A Passion In The Human Breast That However High We Reach We Are Never Satisfied.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

We Must Bear In Mind, Then, That There Is Nothing More Difficult And Dangerous, Or More Doubtful Of Success, Than An Attempt To Introduce A New Order Of Things In Any State. For The Innovator Has For Enemies All Those Who Derived Advantages From The Old Order Of Things, Whilst Those Who Expect To Be Benefited By The New Institutions Will Be But Lukewarm Defenders.

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

(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.

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.

Therefore The Best Fortress Is To Be Found In The Love Of The People, For Although You May Have Fortresses They Will Not Save You If You Are Hated By The People.

Whoever 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.

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.

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

We Must Distinguish Between Those Who Depend On Others, That Is Between Those Who To Achieve Their Purposes Can Force The Issue And Those Who Must Use Persuasion. In The Second Case, They Always Come To Grief, Having Achieved Nothing; When, However, They Depend On Their Own Resources And Can Force The Issue, Then They Are Seldom Endangered.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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 Adventurous Than Cautious, Because Fortune Is A Woman.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

The Ends Justifies The Means.

Ends Justify The Means

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

And Truly It Is A Very Natural And Ordinary Thing To Desire To Acquire, And Always, When Men Do It Who Can, They Will Be Praised Or Not Blamed; But When They Cannot, And Wish To Do It Anyway, Here Lies The Error And The Blame.

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

Princes Should Delegate To Others The Enactment Of Unpopular Measures And Keep In Their Own Hands The Means Of Winning Favours.

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

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.

One Never Finds Anything Perfectly Pure And ... Exempt From Danger.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Decision Making

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

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.

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

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.

One Must Consider The Final Result

Ends Justify The Means

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Nothing Feeds Upon Itself As Liberality Does.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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

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.

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.

Men May Second Fortune, But They Cannot Thwart Her.

War Brings Out Thieves And Peace Hangs Them.

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

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.

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

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

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

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 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.

A Battle That You Win Cancels All Your Mistakes.

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

Never Do Your Enemy A Minor Injury.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

It Is The Duty Of A Man Of Honor To Teach Others The Good Which He Has Not Been Able To Do Himself Because Of The Malignity Of The Times, That This Good Finally Can Be Done By Another More Loved In Heaven.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Men Are Less Hesitant About Harming Someone Who Makes Himself Loved Than One Who Makes Himself Feared Because Love Is Held Together By A Chain Of Obligation Which, Since Men Are Wretched Creatures, Is Broken On Every Occasion In Which Their Own Interests Are Concerned; But Fear Is Sustained By Dread Of Punishment Which Will Never Abandon You.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.

He Who Builds On The People, Builds On The Mud

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

Challenging The Status Quo

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

If The Present Be Compared With The Remote Past, It Is Easily Seen That In All Cities And In All Peoples There Are The Same Desires And The Same Passions As There Always Were.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Before All Else, Be Armed.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 Seldom Rise From Low Condition To High Rank Without Employing Either Force Or Fraud, Unless That Rank Should Be Attained Either By Gift Or Inheritance.

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

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

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.

Benefits Should Be Conferred Gradually; And In That Way They Will Taste Better.

There Is Nothing More Important Than Appearing To Be Religious.

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.

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.

In The Armies And Among Every Ten Men There Is One Of More Life, Of More Heart, Or At Least Of More Authority, Who With His Courage, With Words And By Example Keeps The Others Firm And Disposed To Fight.

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

The Innovator Has For Enemies All Who Have Done Well Under The Old, And Lukewarm Defenders In Those Who May Do Well Under The New.

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

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

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.

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

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

The Reply Is, That One Ought To Be Both Feared And Loved, But As It Is Difficult For The Two To Go Together, It Is Much Safer To Be Feared Than Loved, If One Of The Two Has To Be Wanting. For It May Be Said Of Men In General That They Are Ungrateful, Voluble, Dissemblers, Anxious To Avoid Danger, And Covetous Of Gain; As Long As You Benefit Them, They Are Entirely Yours; They Offer You Their Blood, Their Goods, Their Life, And Their Children, As I Have Before Said, When The Necessity Is Remote; But When It Approaches, They Revolt.

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.

For As Good Habits Of The People Require Good Laws To Support Them, So Laws, To Be Observed, Need Good Habits On The Part Of The People.

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

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

The Swiss Are Well Armed And Enjoy Great Freedom.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Second Amendment

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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