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

"The injury that is to be done to a man must be such that one need not fear his revenge."

"To conquer, one must have the spirit of a lion and the cunning of a fox."

"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."

"For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often even more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are."