Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

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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. 

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince - Chapter 3, 1513)

A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince - Chapter 6, 1513)

From good they gradually decline to evil, and from evil again return to good. The reason is, that valor produces peace; peace, repose; repose, disorder; disorder, ruin; so from disorder order springs; from order virtue, and from this, glory and good fortune.

Niccolo Machiavelli (Florentine Histories, 1521 - 1525)

He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince, 1513)

Anyone who studies present and ancient affairs will easily see how in all cities and all peoples there still exist, and have always existed, the same desires and passions.

Niccolo Machiavelli (Discourses on Livy - First Book: Chapter 39, 1513)

Never was anything great achieved without danger.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved because... love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince - Chapter 17, 1513)

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

Niccolo Machiavelli (Discourses on Livy - First Book: Chapter 46, 1513)

A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince, 1513)

Nothing is of greater importance in time of war than in knowing how to make the best use of a fair opportunity when it is offered.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Art of War, 1520)

Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it.

Niccolo Machiavelli (Discourses on Livy - First Book: Chapter 3, 1513)

Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince, 1513)

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, and the third is useless.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince - Chapter 22, 1513)

Men have imagined republics and principalities that never really existed at all. 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; for a man who strives after goodness in all his acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince - Chapter 15, 1513)

Whenever men are not obliged to fight from necessity, they fight from ambition; which is so powerful in human breasts, that it never leaves them no matter to what rank they rise. The reason is that nature has so created men that they are able to desire everything but are not able to attain everything: so that the desire being always greater than the acquisition, there results discontent with the possession and little satisfaction to themselves from it.

Niccolo Machiavelli (Discourses on Livy, 1517)

Men nearly always follow the tracks made by others and proceed in their affairs by imitation, even though they cannot entirely keep to the tracks of others or emulate the prowess of their models. So a prudent man should always follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been outstanding. If his own prowess fails to compare with theirs, at least it has an air of greatness about it. He should behave like those archers who, if they are skilful, when the target seems too distant, know the capabilities of their bow and aim a good deal higher than their objective, not in order to shoot so high but so that by aiming high they can reach the target.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince - Chapter 6, 1513)

Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is not hated, which will always be as long as he abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects and from their women.

Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince - Chapter 17, 1513)

The evening has come, I return home and go to my study; at the entrance I pull off my peasant- clothes, covered with dust and dirt, and put on my noble court dress, and thus becomingly re-clothed I pass into the ancient courts of the men of old, where, being lovingly received by them, I am fed with that food which is mine alone; where I do not hesitate to speak with them, and to ask for the reason of their actions, and they in their benignity answer me; and for four hours I feel no weariness, I forget every trouble, poverty does not dismay, death does not terrify me; I am possessed entirely by those great men.
And because Dante says, “Knowledge doth come of learning well retained, Unfruitful else” 
I have noted down what I have gained from their conversation, and have composed a small work on 'Principalities,' where I pour myself out as fully as I can in meditation on the subject, discussing what a principality is, what kinds there are, how they can be acquired, how they can be kept, why they are lost: and if any of my fancies ever pleased you, this ought not to displease you: and to a prince, especially to a new one, it should be welcome… 

Niccolo Machiavelli (Letter to Francesco Vettori - Machiavelli is describing his lifestyle during the period of writing The Prince, 1513)

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Niccolo Machiavelli Biography

Niccolo Machiavelli quotes and portrait

Born: May 3, 1469
Died: June 21, 1527

Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian historian, humanist, diplomat, playwright and philosopher. He is most commonly known for his influential books such as "The Prince"

Notable Works

The Prince (1513)
Discourses on Livy
(ca. 1517)
The Art of War
(1520)
Life of Castruccio Castracani
(1520)
Florentine Histories
(1521 - 1525)
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Related Authors
Francis Bacon
Galileo Galilei
Giordano Bruno
Rousseau
Thomas Hobbes
Voltaire
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Misattributed Quotes
It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
Jean de La Fountaine in Fables - Book II