Our list of Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
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The Niccolo Machiavelli's quote says that we are always inclined to accept the immediate good.
Immediate goods fall into the short-term sphere, that is, those things that give satisfaction and enjoyment for a short period and are not helpful in the long run.
We must be visionary and forward-looking. We must seek what is useful, beneficial, and positive in the long term.
We must be aware that particular objects and relationships with people are short-term things that will not be useful for our whole life. We must not give too much relevance or heaviness to these things.
It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
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If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
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Politics have no relation to morals.
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The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
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There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
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It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
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Never was anything great achieved without danger.
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There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
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Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.
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He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
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It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
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The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
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There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.
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Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed ought drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more.
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Before all else, be armed.
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The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
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I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
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One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.
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Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.
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Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
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The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
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Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
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No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
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Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
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God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.
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Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
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It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.
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The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.
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The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.
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Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.
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War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.
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When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.
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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.
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Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.
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Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.
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One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
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There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
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A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
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It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.
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A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.
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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.
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A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.
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War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.
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Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.
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The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.
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We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.
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Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.
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Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.
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To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people.
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The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.
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The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.
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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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For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.
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Benefits should be conferred gradually; and in that way they will taste better.
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Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.
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Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.
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Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.
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The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.
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There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
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Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.
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It is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.
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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.
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Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.
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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; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.
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It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.
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How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation.
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Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.
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The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.
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Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.
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A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways.
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