"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, fro…"

"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…"

"Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them."

"He who builds on the people, builds on mud."

"God does not want to do everything, so as not to deprive us of our free will and part of the glory that belongs to us."