Machiavelli

The vulgar are always taken by appearances and by the outcome of a thing; and in the world there are only the vulgar.

He who blinds himself to reality must prepare to be destroyed.

The Romans, in order to hold Capua, Alba, and Ostia, did not destroy them, but gave them their own laws and left them free, and they did not hold them without difficulty.

When a prince has once made a reputation, he can easily overcome any enterprise, even if he has little strength.

The injury that is to be done to a man must be such that one need not fear his revenge.

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.

Wise men say, and not without reason, that whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times.

A man who is used to acting with caution, when circumstances require him to act with impetuosity, cannot change his nature.

The people, when they are not restrained by fear, are always ready to commit every kind of excess.

It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.

A prince must have no other object, no other thought, nor take anything else for his art, but war and its orders and discipline.

Nature creates few men brave, industry makes many.

The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.

If a prince wants to keep his state, he must learn how to be not good, and to use or not use this according to the necessity.

He who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined.

Men are won over as much by the love they are given as by the fear they are inspired with.

The end justifies the means.

A prince must be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them, they take vengeance, whereas if you wound them incurably, they are unable to do so.

It is not fortune, but their own indolence, that causes men to abandon themselves to their fate.