Machiavelli

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

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

Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

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

There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.

Politics have no relation to morals.

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.

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

Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.

It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.

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.

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.

It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.

The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.

A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought… but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.

He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves.

There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.