Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes - Page 8

Quotes about:

• Thus it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, sincere, religious, and also to be so; but you must have the mind so disposed that when it is needful to be otherwise you may be able to change to the opposite qualities.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Religious, Character, Opposites

  Niccolo Machiavelli (2017). “The Prince”, p.56, Knickerbocker Classics

  18 Copy quote

• A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Father, Son, Loss

  34 Copy quote

• In truth, there never was any remarkable lawgiver amongst any people who did not resort to divine authority, as otherwise his laws would not have been accepted by the people; for there are many good laws, the importance of which is known to be the sagacious lawgiver, but the reasons for which are not sufficiently evident to enable him to persuade others to submit to them; and therefore do wise men, for the purpose of removing this difficulty, resort to divine authority.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Wise, Men, Law

  12 Copy quote

• Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Knowing, Evil, Trouble

  9 Copy quote

• He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Done, Ruins, Neglect

  Niccolo Machiavelli (2015). “The Prince”, p.69, Xist Publishing

  15 Copy quote

• A blast in the human breast is nothing to boast of.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Blast, Breasts, Boast

  9 Copy quote

• I say that every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel. He must, however, take care not to misuse this mercifulness.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Art, War, Desire

  Niccolo Machiavelli (2017). “The Prince”, p.52, Knickerbocker Classics

  7 Copy quote

• No one should therefore fear that he cannot accomplish what others have accomplished, for, men are born, live, and die in quite the same way they always have.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Men, Way, Born

  19 Copy quote

• 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. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Men, Sight, Judging

  31 Copy quote

• Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Men, Brave, Training

  Sun Tzu, Niccolo Machiavelli (2013). “The Complete Art of War”, p.416, Simon and Schuster

  18 Copy quote

• A wise prince then...should never be idle in times of peace but should industriously lay up stores of which to avail himself in times of adversity so that when fortune abandons him he may be prepared to resist her blows.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Wise, Adversity, Blow

  23 Copy quote

• it is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Opportunity, Love Is, Men

  Niccolo Machiavelli (2010). “The Prince”, p.68, FastPencil Inc

  28 Copy quote

• Men are less hesitant about harming someone who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared because love is held together by a chain of obligation which, since men are wretched creatures, is broken on every occasion in which their own interests are concerned; but fear is sustained by dread of punishment which will never abandon you.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Love Is, Men, Broken

  12 Copy quote

• My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Views, Achieve, Difficult

  Niccolo Machiavelli, Quentin Skinner, Russell Price (1988). “Machiavelli: The Prince”, p.59, Cambridge University Press

  7 Copy quote

• It is much better to tempt fortune where it can favor you than to see your certain ruin by not tempting it.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Art, War, Favors

  6 Copy quote

• One should never permit a disorder to persist in order to avoid a war, for wars cannot be avoided and can only be deferred to the advantage of others.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Peace, War, Order

  16 Copy quote

• You do not know the unfathomable cowardice of humanity...servile in the face of force, pitiless in the face of weakness, implacable before blunders, indulgent before crimes...and patient to the point of martyrdom before all the violences of bold despotism.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Humanity, Liberty, Weakness

  20 Copy quote

• Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Government, Elements, Literature

  14 Copy quote

• The world has always been the same; and there is always as much good fortune as bad in it.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  World, Fortune, Good Fortune

  15 Copy quote

• The nature of man is such that people consider themselves put under an obligation as much by the benefits they confer as by those they receive.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Art, War, Men

  11 Copy quote

• A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Wise, Wisdom, Men

  18 Copy quote

• Conquered states that have been accustomed to liberty and the government of their own laws can be held by the conqueror in three different ways. The first is to ruin them; the second, for the conqueror to go and reside there in person; and the third is to allow them to continue to live under their own laws, subject to a regular tribute, and to create in them a government of a few, who will keep the country friendly to the conqueror

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Country, War, Government

  36 Copy quote

• Never do your enemy a minor injury.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Enemy, Injury, Minors

  7 Copy quote

• Speaking generally, men are ungrateful, fickle, hypocritical, fearful odanger and covetous ogain.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Men, Ungrateful, Fickle

  14 Copy quote

• And above all you ought to guard against leading an army to fight which is afraid or which is not confident of victory. For the greatest sign of an impending loss is when one does not believe one can win.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Art, War, Believe

  10 Copy quote

Page 8 of 16

First

← Prev

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Next →

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin