Niccolò Machiavelli quotes - page 7

It is easier for the prince to make friends of those men who were contented under the former government, and are therefore his enemies, than of those who, being discontented with it, were favourable to him and encouraged him to seize it. (Niccolò Machiavelli)
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
Anyone who studies present and ancient affairs will easily see how in all cities and all peoples there still exist, and have always existed, the same desires and passions. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
The demands of a free populace, too, are very seldom harmful to liberty, for they are due either to the populace being oppressed or to the suspicious that it is going to be oppressed... View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
How laudable it is for a prince to keep good faith and live with integrity, and not with astuteness, every one knows. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
You don't avoid such a war, you merely postpone it, to your own disadvantage. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
The best possible fortress is-not to be hated by the people. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
It is the nature of men to be bound by the benefits they confer as much as by those they receive. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
And therefore a prince who does not understand the art of war, over and above the other misfortunes already mentioned, cannot be respected by his soldiers, nor can he rely on them. He ought never, therefore, to have out of his thoughts this subject of war, and in peace he should addict himself more to its exercise than in war; this he can do in two ways, the one by action, the other by study. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
It should be noted that hatred is acquired as much by good works as by bad ones, therefore, as I said before, a prince wishing to keep his state is very often forced to do evil. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
When Machiavelli came to the end of his life, he had a vision shortly before giving up the ghost. He saw a small company of poor scoundrels, all in rags, ill-favoured, famished, and, in short, in as bad plight as possible. He was told that these were the inhabitants of paradise, of whom it is written, Beati pauperes, quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum.. After this, he was asked to which of the groups he would choose to belong; he answered that he would much rather be in Hell with those great geniuses, to converse with them about affairs of state, than be condemned to the company of the verminous scoundrels that he had first been shown. (Niccolò Machiavelli)
Never let any Government imagine that it can choose perfectly safe courses... Prudence consists in knowing how to distinguish the character of troubles, and for choice to take the lesser evil. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers. 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. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him; and when they are capable and faithful he may always be considered wise, because he has known how to recognize the capable and to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise one cannot form a good opinion of him, for the prime error which he made was in choosing them. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
A man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
Such-like deaths, which are deliberately inflicted with a resolved and desperate courage, cannot be avoided by princes, because any one who does not fear to die can inflict them. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
One must never forget to look at the aim of a matter. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
Because there is nothing proportionate between the armed and the unarmed; and it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man should be secure among armed servants. Because, there being in the one disdain and in the other suspicion, it is not possible for them to work well together. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
Well-ordered states and wise princes have taken every care not to drive the nobles to desperation, and to keep the people satisfied and contented, for this is one of the most important objects a prince can have. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
He who believes that new benefits will cause great personages to forget old injuries is deceived. (Niccolò Machiavelli)
Time drives everything before it, and is able to bring with it good as well as evil, and evil as well as good. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
I conclude, then, that so long as Fortune varies and men stand still, they will prosper while they suit the times, and fail when they do not. But I do feel this: that it is better to be rash than timid, for Fortune is a woman, and the man who wants to hold her down must beat and bully her. We see that she yields more often to men of this stripe than to those who come coldly toward her. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
When Machiavelli came to the end of his life, he had a vision shortly before giving up the ghost. He saw a small company of poor scoundrels, all in rags, ill-favoured, famished, and, in short, in as bad plight as possible. He was told that these were the inhabitants of paradise, of whom it is written, Beati pauperes, quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli
A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise... But it is necessary to know how to disguise this nature well and to be a great hypocrite and a liar. View quote
Niccolò Machiavelli