"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are."

"If a prince wants to maintain his rule, he must learn how not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not, according to need."

"For a man who wishes to make a profession of good in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good."

"There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you."

"There are three kinds of intellect: one which comprehends by itself; another that discerns what another comprehends; and a third which comprehends neither by itself nor by the showing of another."