Quotes About Adversity

Let no man, therefore, lose heart from thinking that he cannot do what others have done before him; for, as I said in my Preface, men are born, and live, and die, always in accordance with the same rules.

it happens in all human affairs that we never seek to escape one mischief without falling into another. Prudence therefore consists in knowing how to distinguish degrees of disadvantage, and in accepting a less evil as a good.

To defeat Fortune, men must anticipate such evils before they arise, and take prudent steps to avoid them. When the waters have already risen, it is too late to build dikes and embankments.

Set down among these lice, this is how I keep the mold from my brain and find release from Fortune's malice. I am content to have her beat me down this way to see if she won't become ashamed.

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

Men can assist Fortune but not oppose her; they can weave her schemes but they cannot break them.

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

Never was anything great achieved without danger

Without doubt, princes become great when they overcome difficulties and hurdles put in their path. When fortune wants to advance a new prince... She creates enemies for him, making them launch campaigns against him so that he is compelled to overcome them and climb higher on the ladder that they have brought him. Therefore, many judge that a wise prince must skillfully fan some enmity whenever the opportunity arises, so that in crushing it he will increase his standing.

É necessário a um príncipe saber usar do animal com destreza, dentre todos ele deve escolher a raposa e o leão, pois o leão não pode defender-se de armadilhas, e a raposa é indefesa diante dos lobos; é preciso, pois ser raposa para conhecer as armadilhas e leão para afugentar os lobos - aqueles que simplesmente adotam o leão não entendem do assunto.

It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.

He who has relied on Fortune less has maintained his position best.

it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves.

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.

si el que construye sobre el pueblo es un príncipe que sabe mandar y es valeroso, que no se amedrenta ante la adversidad, que no carece de otras aptitudes y que con su valor y sus instituciones mantiene despierto el ánimo de todos, nunca se encontrará engañado por el pueblo y se habrá procurado sólidos cimientos.

A wise prince ought to observe some such rules, and never in peaceful times stand idle, but increase his resources with industry in such a way that they may be available to him in adversity, so that if fortune chances it may find him prepared to resist her blows.

WidzÄ™ w nim (losie) podobieÅ"stwo do rwÄ…cej rzeki, która gdy wyleje, zatapia równiny, przewraca drzewa i domy [...], ka?dy ustÄ™puje przed jej wÅ›ciekÅ'oÅ›ciÄ…, nie mogÄ…c siÄ™ jej oprze?. Lecz chocia? takÄ… jest rzeka, nie znaczy, ?eby ludzie, gdy spokój powróci, nie mogli zabezpieczy? siÄ™ groblami i tamami.

And above all things, a prince ought to live amongst his people in such a way that no unexpected circumstances, whether of good or evil, shall make him change; because if the necessity for this comes in troubled times, you are too late for harsh measures; and mild ones will not help you, for they will be considered as forced from you, and no one will be under any obligation to you for them.

This, I believe, arises firstly from causes that have already been discussed at length, namely, that the prince who relies entirely on fortune is lost when it changes.

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.

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.

Machiavelli was no facile phrasemonger; the conditions under which he wrote

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

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