Quotes from Niccolo Machiavelli

Princes ought to leave affairs of reproach to the management of others, and keep those of grace in their own hands.

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.

For these reasons Louis the Twelfth, King of France, quickly occupied Milan, and as quickly lost it; and to turn him out the first time it only needed Lodovico's own forces; because those who had opened the gates to him, finding themselves deceived in their hopes of future benefit, would not endure the ill-treatment of the new prince.

Thus, it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, religious, and upright, and also to be so; but the mind should remain so balanced that were it needful not to be so, you should be able and know how to change to the contrary.

A wise prince, when he has the opportunity, ought with craft to foster some animosity against himself, so that, having crushed it, his renown may rise higher.

It is so far from how one lives to how one should live that he who lets go of what is done for what should be done learns his ruin rather than his preservation

Every one sees what you seem, but few know what you are, and these few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many who have the majesty of the State to back them up.

With us there is great justice, because that war is just which is necessary, and arms are hallowed when there is no other hope but in them.

it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank.

His actions have arisen in such a way, one out of the other, that men have never been given time to work steadily against him.

For I do not believe that divisions purposely caused can ever lead to good; on the contrary, when an enemy approaches, divided cities are lost at once, for the weaker faction will always side with the invader, and the other will not be able to stand alone.

The actions of a new prince are more narrowly observed than those of an hereditary one.

As to how a Prince is to know his Minister, this unerring rule may be laid down. When you see a Minister thinking more of himself than of you, and in all his actions seeking his own ends, that man can never be a good Minister or one that you can trust.

Two men working differently bring about the same effect; and of two men working similarly, one attains his object and the other does not.

Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to feared than loved.

mantenendosi loro le condizioni vecchie e non vi essendo disformità di costumi, li uomini si vivono quietamente; come s'è visto che ha fatto la Borgogna, la Brettagna, la Guascogna e la Normandia, che tanto tempo sono state con Francia;

it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly to him who is unarmed

It's easy to convince people of something, but hard to keep them convinced.

For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say. And if sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.

En nuestros tiempos sólo hemos visto hacer grandes cosas a los hombres considerados tacaños; los demás siempre han fracasado.

que el que ayuda a otro a hacerse poderoso causa su propia ruina. 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.

Before all else, be armed.

es que el que ayuda a otro a hacerse poderoso provoca su propia ruina.

There are actually three kinds of mind: one kind grasps things unaided, the second sees what another has grasped, the third grasps nothing and sees nothing. The first kind is extremely valuable, the second valuable, the third useless.