Quotes by Niccol Machiavelli

“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”

“And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear...”

“From this arises the following question: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is that one would like to be both the one and the other, but because they are diffi...”

“From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear ...”

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”

“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 ...”

“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...”

“Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to b...”

“A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.”

“Is it better to be loved or feared?”

“God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.”

“It is of the greatest important in this world that a man should know himself, and the measure of his own strength and means; and he who knows that he has not a genius for fighting must learn how to...”

“Again, a Prince should show himself a patron of merit, and should honour those who excel in every art. He ought accordingly to encourage his subjects by enabling them to pursue their callings, whet...”

“He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command”

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profi...”

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

“In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.”

“He who causes another to become powerful ruins himself, for he brings such a power into being either by design or by force, and both of these elements are suspects to the one whom he has made power...”

“These opportunities, then, gave these men the chance they needed, and their great abilities made them recognize it.”

“Those who believe that where great personages are concerned new favors cause old injuries to be forgotten deceive themselves.”