Machiavelli — "It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles."
It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
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More from Machiavelli
"One change always leaves the way open for the introduction of another."
"No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."
"For he who is not strong enough to protect himself must seek protection from others."
"There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others."
"Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries—for heavy ones they cannot."
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.