Quotes from Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince before its first legal publication in English in 1640

as the physicians say it happens in hectic fever, that in the beginning of the malady it is easy to cure but difficult to detect, but in the course of time, not having been either detected or treated in the beginning, it becomes easy to detect but difficult to cure.

in the long run a ruler must avoid being hated by his people and must always put their interests before those of the aristocracy; the people are so many, Machiavelli reflected, that power ultimately lies with them.

Y el primer juicio que nos formamos sobre la inteligencia de un señor nace de observar a los hombres que le rodean; y cuando son competentes y fieles se le puede considerar siempre sabio, porque ha sabido reconocer su competencia y mantenerlos fieles a él. Pero cuando son de otra manera siempre cabe hacerse de él un juicio que no sea bueno, porque con esa elección comete el primer error.

Machiavelli was in constant trouble for failing to keep the politicians properly informed of what he was up to. 16 One cannot help but feel his behavior suggests a professional civil servant's contempt for the amateurs from whom he was obliged to take his instructions, an attitude that could easily have led him to long for more authoritarian government.

the armor of others is too wide, or too strait for us; it falls off us, or it weighs is down.

so one has to be a prince to get to know the character of a people and a man of the people to know the character of a prince.

Every one sees what you seem, but few know what you are ...

Returning to the question of being feared or loved, I come to the conclusion that, men loving according to their own will and fearing according to that of the prince, a wise prince should establish himself on that which is in his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavour only to avoid hatred, as is noted.

es defecto común de los hombres no preocuparse por la tempestad durante la bonanza)

Sono questi dominii cosí acquistati, o consueti a vivere sotto uno principe, o usi ad essere liberi; et acquistonsi, o con le armi d'altri o con le proprie, o per fortuna o per virtù.

Y los hombres tienen menos cuidado en ofender a uno que se haga amar que a uno que se haga temer;

After the deaths of some pontiffs, Osporco, a Roman, succeeded to the papacy; but on account of his unseemly appellation, he took the name of Sergius, and this was the origin of that change of names which the popes adopt upon their election to the pontificate.

not restricting themselves to dealing with present threats but using every means at their disposal to foresee and forestall future problems as well. Seen in advance, trouble is easily dealt with; wait until it's on top of you and your reaction will come too late, the malaise is already irreversible.

I certainly think that it is better to be impetuous than cautious, for fortune is a woman, and it is necessary if you wish to master her, to conquer her.

Trzeba by? ksi?ciem, aby pozna? natur? ludu. Trzeba nale?e? do ludu, aby pozna? natur? ksi???t

El príncipe no ha de tener otro objeto, ni abrigar otro propósito, ni cultivar otro arte, que el que enseña, el orden y la disciplina de los ejércitos, porque es el único que se espera ver ejercido por el que manda.

Przeto gdy krzywdzi siÄ™ czÅ'owieka, nale?y czyni? to w ten sposób, aby nie trzeba byÅ'o obawia? siÄ™ zemsty

La primera causa que haría a un príncipe perder el suyo, sería abandonar el arte de la guerra, como la causa que hace adquirir un reino al que no lo tenía

Concluderò solo che a uno principe è necessario avere el populo amico: altrimenti non ha, nelle avversità, remedio.

L'homme qui en toutes choses veut faire profession de bonté se ruine inéluctablement parmi tant d'hommes qui n'ont aucune bonté.

you must never fail to respond to trouble just to avoid war, because in the end you won't avoid it, you'll just be putting it off to your enemy's advantage.

La razón y la experiencia nos enseñan que el hombre que se halla armado no obedece con gusto al que está desarmado

1492, muerte de Lorenzo el Magnifico; descubrimiento de América y la unidad del imperio español con el fin de los reinos musulmanes en España.