Machiavelli Quotes

"Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony."

"Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied."

"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are."

"The vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it."

"I believe that the greatest gift that nature has given to men is that of being able to imagine."

"You must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves."

"Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil."

"Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed."

"Benefits should be granted little by little, so that they may be better enjoyed."

"Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times."

"It is unnecessary to have all the virtues, but it is necessary to appear to have them."

"Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful."

"Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations."

"He who is the cause of another becoming powerful is the agent of his own destruction."

"It is a common fault of men not to reckon on storms in fair weather."

"Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and in choosing the least harmful of them as the best."

"Nature creates few men brave, but industry and training make many."

"The vulgar crowd is always taken in by appearances and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar."

"A prudent man always chooses the least bad option and calls it the best."

"If you must strike a man, do it so severely that you need not fear his vengeance."

"Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others."

"He who builds on the people builds on the mud."

"There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you."

"Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please."

"I conclude, then, that since fortune changes, and men remain fixed in their ways, they are successful so long as these two are in agreement."

"It is better to be impetuous than cautious, for fortune is a woman, and it is necessary, if you wish to master her, to conquer her by force."

"Do not leave for tomorrow the strike that secures your safety today."

"The wise man does at once what the fool does finally."

"Never let an opportunity for advantage slip through fingers paralyzed by morality."

"Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great."

"Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed out drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more."

"Nature has created men so that they desire everything and are unable to attain everything."

"The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present."