"It is much safer for the prince to be feared than loved, but he ought to avoid making himself hated."
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Niccolo Machiavelli quotes (page 16 of 20)
389 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast."
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"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."
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"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."
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"...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."
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"Present wars impoverish the lords that win as much as those that lose."
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"Men are more ready to offend one who desires to be beloved than one who wishes to be feared."
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"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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"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."
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"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"
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"The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom."
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"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."
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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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"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."
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"Only those means of security are good, are certain, are lasting, that depend on yourself and your own vigor."
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"To know in war how to recognize an opportunity and seize it is better than anything else."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"For whoever conquers a free Town, and does not demolish it, commits a great Error, and may expect to be ruin 'd himself."
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