Quotes About Morality

A man who wishes to profess at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good.

And as the observance of religious teaching is the cause of the greatness of republics, similarly, disdain for it is the cause of their ruin. For where the fear of God is lacking, the state must necessarily either come to ruin or be held together by the fear of a prince that will compensate for the lack of religion.

Verträge bricht man um des Nutzens willen.

For the friendships which we buy with a price, and do not gain by greatness and nobility of character, though they be fairly earned are not made good, but fail us when we have occasion to use them.

Yet the way men live is so far removed from the way they ought to live that anyone who abandons what is for what should be pursues his downfall rather than his preservation

The gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation.

good individuals cannot exist without good education, and good education cannot exist without good laws

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 learn to bring about his own ruin than his preservation. A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case

Still, to slaughter fellow-citizens, to betray friends, to be devoid of honour, pity, and religion, cannot be counted as merits, for these are means which may lead to power, but which confer no glory.

One who begins to live by rapine will always find some reason for taking the goods of others

A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.

How does one use power to do good, when wielding power requires one to do evil ?

above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. Besides

government should be elevated into a living moral force, capable of inspiring the people with a just recognition of the fundamental principles of society;

As the observance of religious worship is the reason for the greatness of a republic, so the contempt for religious worship is the reason for its ruin.

although crimes may win an empire, they do not win glory.

takes us the farther distance from the Old World to something new and revolutionary in human thought. That moral center, however, is hard to find with modern eyes. Locating it requires

Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.

a veces, lo que parece virtud es causa de ruina, y lo que parece vicio solo acaba por traer el bienestar y la seguridad.

Above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

It is necessary', he writes, for a prince to learn 'how not to be good' (Ch. XV). Machiavelli's wording on this matter is extremely precise: a man who wants 'to profess goodness at all times' will inevitably fail because he is surrounded by many unscrupulous men. Hence, 'it is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain himself to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge or not to use it according to necessity' (Ch. XV).

cannot be called talent to slay fellow-citizens, to deceive friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; such methods may gain empire, but not glory.

He [the prince] holds to what is right when he can but knows how to do wrong when he must.