Machiavelli:

For of men it may generally be affirmed that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are entirely yours, offering you their blood, their property, their lives, and their sons, as I have before said, when the necessity is remote; but when it approaches nearer to you they turn against you.

— Machiavelli Early Modern

The Prince, political philosophy

Context

The Prince, Chapter XVII: Of Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether it is Better to be Loved or Feared

Date / Period

1532

Source

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm#link2H_4_0009

Verification

Unverifiable

Explanation

Found in 1 providers: grok

Method

Cross Reference

Sources Checked

1 source

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