"Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling."

"A wise prince, therefore, ought to find a means by which his subjects will always in every sort and kind of circumstance have need of the state and of him, and then they will always be faithful to him…"

"To be feared is much safer than to be loved."

"He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command."

"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."