Machiavelli

It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity.

War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.

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

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.

Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.

No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.

It is much 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.

A prince, therefore, must not mind incurring the charge of cruelty for the purpose of keeping his subjects united and loyal; for, with a very few examples, he will be more merciful than those who, from excess of tenderness, allow disorders to arise, from whence spring murders and rapine; for these as a rule injure the whole community, while the executions carried out by the prince injure only individuals.

Hence it is to be remarked that, in seizing a state, the usurper ought to arrange to commit all his cruelties at once, so as not to have to repeat them every day, and thus able to secure men without fear and to win them over by benefits.

For a man who wishes to make a profession of good in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good.

A wise prince, therefore, ought to find a means by which his subjects will always in every sort and kind of circumstance have need of the state and of him, and then they will always be faithful to him.

Men are by nature much more inclined to evil than to good; and therefore, if you would have the good, you must put them under the necessity of being so.

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

And 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.

For there is no other way of guarding oneself from flatterers than by letting men understand that to tell you the truth will not offend you.

The promises of men are not to be relied on, unless they are made under such circumstances that the promiser cannot break them without ruin.

He who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined; because that power has been effected either by industry or by force, and both of these are suspicious to the one who has been raised to power.

For it can be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, fickle, feigners and dissemblers, shirkers of dangers, eager for gain.

Whence it may be noted that in taking a state the conqueror must arrange to commit all injuries at once and follow them up every day, so that by not repeating them he may be able to assure men and win them over by benefits.