"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…"

"He who blinds himself to reality must prepare to be destroyed."

"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 f…"

"Men are so simple and yield so readily to the necessities of the moment that he who deceives will always find someone who will let himself be deceived."

"A prince must be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves."