Niccolò Machiavelli

He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, will sooner bring about his own ruin than his preservation.

Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.

A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent.

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.

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.

I consider it a defect in the construction of political societies that they have made it so easy for men of fraudulent and ambitious tempers to take possession of the state.

Liberty is not established by killing people, but by killing rules and kings.

Governments of the more free enjoy the longest duration, because there is more virtue among the inhabitants.

As the observance of divine laws promotes piety, so their violation incurs crimes against God.

Nature has so constituted men that they cannot live without masters.

Men are less careful when they imagine they are safe from harm.

The people, being numerous, and the ruler being only one person, if the people decide to disobey, they will outnumber the ruler.

No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

He who causes another to become powerful ruins himself.

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing, and when men succeed in this they are praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.

All armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed.

Love is a bond of union; when it is necessary to break it, it is best to do so in a single stroke.

Medicine for the malady of the people unless they feel the cure to be too bitter is worthless.

It is much safer to be feared than loved.