Machiavelli — "For it can be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, fickle, feigners …"
For it can be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, fickle, feigners and dissemblers, shirkers of dangers, eager for gain.
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More from Machiavelli
"It is a common error among men to believe that the shortest way to conquer a thing is to try to obtain it by force."
"There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others."
"Whence it may be noted that in taking a state the conqueror must arrange to commit all injuries at once and follow them up every day, so that by not repeating them he may be able to assure men and win…"
"Nature creates few men brave, industry makes many."
"Men are always more easily deceived when they are trying to deceive others."
About Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Florentine diplomat and political theorist whose The Prince (written 1513) became the founding text of political realism and gave us the adjective 'Machiavellian.' Closely associated with Francesco Guicciardini (fellow Florentine political analyst and historian). For an intellectual contrast, see Erasmus of Rotterdam, Dutch humanist and The Education of a Christian Prince author (1516) — Erasmus's princely-instruction manual was published three years after Machiavelli's, for the same European audience, and is the explicit Christian-virtue alternative to Machiavellian power-realism. The cleanest 'realism vs idealism' founding pairing in modern political theory.