We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either. Niccolo Machiavelli More Quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli More Quotes From Niccolo Machiavelli I don't doubt that every prince would like to be both; but since it is hard to accomodate these qualities, if you have to make a choice, to be feared is much safer than to be loved. For it is a good general rule about men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain....[love] is a link of obligation which men, because they are rotten, will break anything they think doing so serves their advantage; but fear involves dread of punishment, from which they can never escape. Niccolo Machiavelli liars love-is men A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity. Niccolo Machiavelli wisdom wise men Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot. Niccolo Machiavelli hustle revenge men Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad. Niccolo Machiavelli decide-upon middle men 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. Niccolo Machiavelli political grief men The prince must consider, as has been in part said before, how to avoid those things which will make him hated or contemptible; and as often as he shall have succeeded he will have fulfilled his part, and he need not fear any danger in other reproaches. Niccolo Machiavelli war art needs 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. Niccolo Machiavelli born men way 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. Niccolo Machiavelli good-friend war art 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. Niccolo Machiavelli giving-up war art 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. Niccolo Machiavelli hatred people needs 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. Niccolo Machiavelli credit taken mean A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it. Niccolo Machiavelli greatness doe men There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt. Niccolo Machiavelli philosophical country religion With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy. Niccolo Machiavelli difficulty force enemy A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others. Niccolo Machiavelli rely should wise The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not. Niccolo Machiavelli business literature doe He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation. Niccolo Machiavelli ruins neglect done One arises from a low to a high station more often by using fraud instead of force. Niccolo Machiavelli force arise lows He who is the cause of another's advancement is thereby the cause of his own ruin. Niccolo Machiavelli advancement ruins waste 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. Niccolo Machiavelli contemplation want world
