Niccolo Machiavelli

“A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.”

“The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.”

“Before all else, be armed.”

“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.”

“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”

“The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.”

“It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.”

“The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.”

“The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

“One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.”

“Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.”

“For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.”

“Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.”

“The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.”

“The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.”

“To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people.”

“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.”