Quote collection
389 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"Good order makes men bold, and confusion, cowards."
"Men are always wicked at bottom unless they are made good by some compulsion."
"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."
"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."
"One arises from a low to a high station more often by using fraud instead of force."
"He who is the cause of another's advancement is thereby the cause of his own ruin."
"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."
"A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others."
"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."
"Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself."
"Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many."
"So in all human affairs one notices, if one examines them closely, that it is impossible to remove one inconvenience without another emerging."