Quotes from Niccolo Machiavelli

I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles

If the course of human affairs be considered, it will be seen that many things arise against which heaven does not allow us to guard.

...the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.

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

Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony

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

Fear is secured by a dread of punishment.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.

Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.

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.

It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.

The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.

Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.

He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command

There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence 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.

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

And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.

It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.

He who establishes a tyranny and does not kill Brutus, and he who establishes a democratic regime and does not kill the sons of Brutus, will not last long.

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.

Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked.