Quote

Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Niccolo Machiavelli
Age: 58 †
Born: 1469
Born: May 3
Died: 1527
Died: June 22
Diplomat
Historian
Military Theorist
Philosopher
Playwright
Poet
Political Theorist
Politician
Translator
Writer
Florence
Tuscany
Nicolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
Nicolò Machiavelli
N. Machiavelli
Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
Machiavelli
Literature
Slight
Cannot
Injury
Take
Revenge
Men
Destroyed
Treated
Generously
Heavy
Hairstyles
Ones
Injuries
Either
Hustle

More quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli

Image
It makes him hated above all things, as I have said, to be rapacious, and to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
It has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain as fame or power not founded on its own strength.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
One arises from a low to a high station more often by using fraud instead of force.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
For as laws are necessary that good manners be preserved, so there is need of good manners that law may be maintained.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
When men receive favours from someone they expected to do them ill, they are under a greater obligation to their benefactor.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
It is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved? It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
Republics have a longer life and enjoy better fortune than principalities, because they can profit by their greater internal diversity. They are the better able to meet emergencies.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
All the States and Governments by which men are or ever have been ruled, have been and are either Republics or Princedoms.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
The peasant wants only to be left alone to prosper in peace.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
In order not to annul our free will, I judge it true that Fortune may be mistress of one half our actions but then even she leaves the other half, or almost, under our control.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
You must never believe that the enemy does not know how to conduct his own affairs. Indeed, if you want to be deceived less and want to bear less danger, the more the enemy is weak or the less the enemy is cautious, so much more must you esteem him.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
One must consider the final result
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
As all those have shown who have discussed civil institutions, and as every history is full of examples, it is necessary to whoever arranges to found a Republic and establish laws in it, to presuppose that all men are bad and that they will use their malignity of mind every time they have the opportunity.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Image
A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.
Niccolo Machiavelli