Quotes from Niccolo Machiavelli

They were freer than their forefathers in dress and living, and spent more in other kinds of excesses, consuming their time and money in idleness, gaming, and women; their chief aim was to appear well dressed and to speak with wit and acuteness, whilst he who could wound others the most cleverly was thought the wisest.

el que engaña con arte halla siempre gente que se deje engañar.

When brutality is the only option left, it is holy.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both

difícilmente se conspira contra el que goza de mucha estimación.

Mientras que, en los Estados gobernados por un príncipe asistido por siervos, el príncipe goza de mayor autoridad: porque en toda la provincia no se reconoce soberano sine a él, y si se obedece a otro, a quien además no se tienen particular amor, sólo se lo hace per tratarse de un ministro y magistrado del principe.

A prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.

If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command. One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived. Politics have no relation to morals

Concluyo, pues, volvieñdo a lo de ser temido y amado, que, dado que los hombres aman cuando es su voluntad y temen según la voluntad del príncipe, un príncipe sabio debe apoyarse en lo que es suyo y no en lo que es de otros; tan sólo debe ingeniárselas, como he dicho, para evitar el odio.

Debéis, pues, saber que hay dos formas de combatir: una con las leyes, otra con la fuerza. La primera es propia del hombre, la segunda de las bestias. Pero como muchas veces no basta la primera, conviene recurrir a la segunda.

Machiavelli moralizes on the resemblance between Fortune and women, and concludes that it is the bold rather than the cautious man that will win and hold them both.

Dante says:  Knowledge doth come of learning well retained,   Unfruitful else

Cualquiera que crea que los nuevos beneficios hacen olvidar a los eminentes personajes las antiguas injurias, camina

There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.

Men are so thoughtless they'll opt for a diet that tastes good without realizing there's a hidden poison in it.

el que ayuda a otro a hacerse poderoso causa su propiaruina. Porque es natural que el que se ha vuelto poderoso recele de la misma astucia o de la misma fuerza gracias a las cuales se lo ha ayudado.

an able statesman out of work, like a huge whale, will endeavour to overturn the ship unless he has an empty cask to play with.

Quod nihil sit tam infirmum aut instaible quam fama potentiae non sua vi nixa.'' ''Hiçbir ÅŸey; kendi gücüne dayanmayan bir iktidar?n ünü kadar zay?f ve deÄŸiÅŸken deÄŸildir.

Going back, then, to the question of being feared or loved, my conclusion is that since people decide for themselves whether to love a ruler or not, while it's the ruler who decides whether they're going to fear him, a sensible man will base his power on what he controls, not on what others have freedom to choose. But he must take care, as I said, that people don't come to hate him.

Ka mjaft virtyte që të çojnë drejtë greminës dhe vese që të sjellin mirëqënie dhe siguri.

Machiavelli was undoubtedly a man of great observation, acuteness, and industry; noting with appreciative eye whatever passed before him, and with his supreme literary gift turning it to account in his enforced retirement from affairs.

Concluiré afirmando tan sólo que el príncipe necesita tener al pueblo de su parte; de lo contrario, no tendrá remedio alguno en la adversidad. Nabis, príncipe de los espartanos, resistió el asedio de toda Grecia y de un victoriosísimo ejército romano, y defendió contra todos ellos su patria y su Estado; llegado el peligro le bastó con cuidarse de unos pocos, lo cual no le habría bastado de haber tenido al pueblo como enemigo.

that he who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined; because that predominancy has been brought about either by astuteness or else by force, and both are distrusted by him who has been raised to power.

In politics there are no perfectly safe courses; prudence consists in choosing the least dangerous ones.