Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes - Page 13

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Many have dreamed up republics and principalities that have never in truth been known to exist; the gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Men, Self, Doe

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The innovator has for enemies all who have done well under the old, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Enemy, Done, May

Niccolo Machiavelli (2010). “The Prince”, p.21, FastPencil Inc

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Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be observed, have need of good morals.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Law, Needs, Politics

"Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius". Book by Niccolò Machiavelli, trans. Allan Gilbert, book 1, chapter 18, p. 241, 1965.

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Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Love, Two, Together

Niccolo Machiavelli (1979). “The Portable Machiavelli”, p.93, Penguin

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Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Class, Appreciate, Three

Niccolo Machiavelli (2010). “The Prince”, p.93, FastPencil Inc

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When men receive favours from someone they expected to do them ill, they are under a greater obligation to their benefactor.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Men

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I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither the one nor the other in any way diminishes the strength of the enemy; but the one makes him more cautious, and the other increases his hatred of you, and makes him more persevering in his efforts to injure you

Niccolo Machiavelli

Military, Men, Effort

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One can say this in general of men: they are ungrateful, disloyal, insincere and deceitful, timid of danger and avid of profit...Love is a bond of obligation that these miserable creatures break whenever it suits them to do so; but fear holds them fast by a dread of punishment that never passes.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Love Is, Men, Avid

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Then also pretexts for seizing property are never wanting, and one who begins to live by rapine will always find some reason for taking the goods of others, whereas causes for taking life are rarer and more quickly destroyed.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Causes

"The Prince". Book by Niccolò Machiavelli, ch. 17, 1513.

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Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Fickle, Literature, May

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Nevertheless, he must be cautious in believing and acting, and must not inspire fear of his own accord, and must proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence does not render him incautious, and too much diffidence does not render him intolerant. From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Believe

"The Prince". Book by Niccolò Machiavelli, ch. 17, as translated by Luigi Ricci (1903), 1513.

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The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Two, Together, Would Be

Niccolo Machiavelli (2002). “The Prince”, Spark Notes

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When every province of the world so teems with inhabitants that they can neither subsist where they are nor remove themselves elsewhere.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Population, Three, World

"Discourses on Livy" by Niccolò Machiavelli, book 1, ch. 5, as translated by Ninian Hill Thomson, 1517.

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Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.

Niccolo Machiavelli

War, Men, Political

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And the prince who has relied solely on their words, without making other preparations, is ruined, for the friendship which is gained by purchase and not through grandeur and nobility of spirit is merited but is not secured, and at times is not to be had.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Preparation

"The Prince". Book by Niccolò Machiavelli, ch. 17, as translated by Luigi Ricci (1903), 1513.

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Some princes, so as to hold securely the state, have disarmed their subjects, others have kept their subject towns distracted by factions...Our forefathers, and those who were reckoned wise, were accustomed to say that it was necessary to hold Pistoia [an Italian city] by factions and Pisa by fortress, and with this idea they fostered quarrels in some of their tributary towns so as to keep possession of them the more easily.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Wise, Italian, Cities

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Good order and discipline in any army are to be depended upon more than courage alone.

Niccolo Machiavelli

War, Army, Order

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Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Religious, Opposites, Faithful

Niccolo Machiavelli (2010). “The Prince”, p.73, FastPencil Inc

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The prince who relies upon their words, without having otherwise provided for his security, is ruined; for friendships that are won by awards, and not by greatness and nobility of soul, although deserved, yet are not real, and cannot be depended upon in time of adversity.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Time, Real, Adversity

"The Prince". Book by Niccolo Machiavelli, 1513.

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We must distinguish between those who depend on others, that is between those who to achieve their purposes can force the issue and those who must use persuasion. In the second case, they always come to grief, having achieved nothing; when, however, they depend on their own resources and can force the issue, then they are seldom endangered.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Grief

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A son could bear with great complacency, the death of his father, while the loss of his inheritance might drive him to despair.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Father, Loss, Son

"Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations" by Jehiel Keeler Hoyt, p. 462-63, Del. Prin, Chapter XVII, 1922.

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For whoever conquers a free Town, and does not demolish it, commits a great Error, and may expect to be ruin 'd himself.

Niccolo Machiavelli

War, Errors, Uprising

"History Of Florence And The Affairs Of Italy".

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Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin than his preservation.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Reality

Niccolo Machiavelli (2017). “The Prince”, p.48, Race Point Publishing

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Therefore, a prudent ruler ought not to keep faith when by so doing it would be against his interest, and when the reasons which made him bind himself no longer exist. If men were all good, this precept would not be a good one; but as they are bad, and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Men

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

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That prince is highly esteemed who conveys this impression of himself, and he who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against; for, provided it is well known that he is an excellent man and revered by his people, he can only be attacked with difficulty.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Art, War, Men

Niccolo Machiavelli (2010). “The Prince”, p.76, FastPencil Inc

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Born: May 3, 1469
Died: June 21, 1527
Occupation: Historian
Cite this Page: Citation

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