There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not. It is simply unreasonable to expect that an armed man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should remain safe and secure when his servants are armed.
Minds are of three kinds: one is capable of thinking for itself; another is able to understand the thinking of others; and a third can neither think for itself nor understand the thinking of others. The first is of the highest excellence, the second is excellent, and the third is worthless.
Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
One can make this generalization about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours. They would shed their blood for you, risk their property, their lives, their children, so long, as I said above, as danger is remote; but when you are in danger they turn against you.
Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold.
The unarmed man is not just defenseless - he is also contemptible.
It is often found that modesty and humility not only do no good, but are positively hurtful, when they are shown to the arrogant who have taken up a prejudice against you, either from envy or from any other cause.
A prince... must learn from the fox and the lion... One must be a fox in order to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten off wolves. Those who act simply as lions are stupid. So it follows that a prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honour his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist.
He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss.
For this is the tragedy of man circumstances change, but he does not.
Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas in antiquity.
A battle that you win cancels all your mistakes.
Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.
One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
For the mob is always impressed by appearances and by results, and the world is composed of the mob.
A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
I hold it to be a proof of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words toward anyone, for neither diminishes the strength of the enemy.
A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.
Women are the most charitable creatures, and the most troublesome. He who shuns women passes up the trouble, but also the benefits. He who puts up with them gains the benefits, but also the trouble. As the saying goes, there's no honey without bees.
The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.
You must know, then, that there are two methods of fighting, the one by law, the other by force: the first method is that of men, the second of beasts; but as the first method is often insufficient, one must have recourse to the second.
The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.
You know better than I that in a Republic talent is always suspect. A man attains an elevated position only when his mediocrity prevents him from being a threat to others. And for this reason a democracy is never governed by the most competent, but rather by those whose insignificance will not jeopardize anyone else's self-esteem.
A battle that you win cancels any other bad action of yours. In the same way, by losing one, all the good things worked by you before become vain.
Though fraud in all other actions be odious, yet in matters of war it is laudable and glorious, and he who overcomes his enemies by stratagem is as much to be praised as he who overcomes them by force.
He who builds on the people, builds on the mud
Knowing how to fight made men more bold, because no one fears doing what it seems to him he has learned to do. Therefore, the ancients wanted their citizens to be trained in every warlike action.
Rome remained free for four hundred years and Sparta eight hundred, although their citizens were armed all that time; but many other states that have been disarmed have lost their liberties in less than forty years.
Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.
The state is not an organism capable of bringing either moral or material improvements to the populace...but merely a vehicle of power for the men and party in power.
There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.
When you disarm your subjects, however, you offend them by showing that either from cowardliness or lack of faith, you distrust them; and either conclusion will induce them to hate you.
One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.
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
He who desires or attempts to reform the government of a state and wishes to have it accepted, must at least retain the semblance of the old forms; so that it may seem to the people that there has been no change in the institutions, even though in fact they are entirely different from the old ones. For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities.
People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.
There is nothing so difficult or so dangerous as to undertake to change the order of things.
Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
Always assume incompetence before looking for conspiracy.
Impetuosity and audacity often achieve what ordinary means fail to achieve.
He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
it is better to act and repent than not to act and regret.
Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.
Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.
He who has once begun to live by rapine always finds reasons for taking what is not his.
It is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman.
One should never fall in the belief that you can find someone to pick you up.
The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.
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.
Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.
The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
Few men are brave by nature, but good discipline and experience make many so.
It should be borne in mind that there is nothing more difficult to arrange, more doubtful of success, and more dangerous to carry through than initiating changes. The innovator makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old order, and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new. Their support is lukewarm ... partly because men are generally incredulous, never really trusting new things unless they have tested them by experience.
It has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain as fame or power not founded on its own strength.
Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.
Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself.
A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others.
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.
Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.
No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
I hold strongly to this: that it is better to be impetuous than circumspect; because fortune is a woman and if she is to be submissive it is necessary to beat and coerce her.
We must bear in mind, then, that there is nothing more difficult and dangerous, or more doubtful of success, than an attempt to introduce a new order of things in any state. For the innovator has for enemies all those who derived advantages from the old order of things, whilst those who expect to be benefited by the new institutions will be but lukewarm defenders.
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not to suffer.
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. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.
Never was anything great achieved without danger.
In war, discipline can do more than fury.
Men seldom rise from low condition to high rank without employing either force or fraud, unless that rank should be attained either by gift or inheritance.
Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine...We work in the Dark, to serve the Light.
Fear is secured by a dread of punishment.
It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
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.
So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil.
How perilous it is to free a people who prefer slavery.
There is nothing as likely to succeed as what the enemy believes you cannot attempt.
Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.
The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance.
One of the great secrets of the day is to know how to take possession of popular prejudices and passions, in such a way as to introduce a confusion of principles which makes impossible all understanding between those who speak the same language and have the same interests.
By the delusions of seeming good the people are often misled to desire their own ruin; and they are frequently influenced by great hopes and brave promises.
Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
And what physicians say about disease is applicable here: that at the beginning a disease is easy to cure but difficult to diagnose; but as time passes, not having been recognized or treated at the outset, it becomes easy to diagnose but difficult to cure. The same thing occurs in affairs of state; for by recognizing from afar the diseases that are spreading in the state (which is a gift given only to the prudent ruler), they can be cured quickly; but when, not having been recognized, they are not recognized and are left to grow to the extent that everyone recognizes them, there is no longer any cure.
Nothing feeds upon itself as liberality does.
There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.
There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.
Change has no constituency.
Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it; but when they are free to choose and can do just as they please, confusion and disorder become rampant.
Appear as you may wish to be
All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.
Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.
Before all else, be armed.
The leader should know how to enter into evil when necessity commands.
When evening comes, I return home and go into my study. On the threshold I strip off my muddy, sweaty clothes of everyday, and put on the robes of court and palace, and in this graver dress I enter the antique courts of the ancients and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death; I pass indeed into their world.
I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself.
The people resemble a wild beast, which, naturally fierce and accustomed to live in the woods, has been brought up, as it were, in a prison and in servitude, and having by accident got its liberty, not being accustomed to search for its food, and not knowing where to conceal itself, easily becomes the prey of the first who seeks to incarcerate it again.
All the armed prophets conquered; all the unarmed ones perished.
For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.
An armed republic submits less easily to the rule of one of its citizens than a republic armed by foreign forces. Rome and Sparta were for many centuries well armed and free. The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom. Among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible. It is not reasonable to suppose that one who is armed will obey willingly one who is unarmed; or that any unarmed man will remain safe among armed servants.
Never do an enemy a small injury.
Politics have no relation to morals.
If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
If you only notice human proceedings, you may observe that all who attain great power and riches, make use of either force or fraud; and what they have acquired either by deceit or violence, in order to conceal the disgraceful methods of attainment, they endeavor to sanctify with the false title of honest gains.
Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.
Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony
The ends justifies the means.
Cruelties should be committed all at once.
I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.
Men are of three different capacities: one understands intuitively; another understands so far as it is explained; and a third understands neither of himself nor by explanation. The first is excellent, the second, commendable, and the third, altogether useless.
For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.
For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying
To be feared is much safer then to be loved.
There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.
Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
Results are often obtained by impetuosity and daring which could never have been obtained by ordinary methods.
It is a foolish prince who entrusts the safety of his lands to hired men.
One should never permit a disorder to persist in order to avoid a war, for wars cannot be avoided and can only be deferred to the advantage of others.
The peasant wants only to be left alone to prosper in peace.
