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For whoever conquers a free Town, and does not demolish it, commits a great Error, and may expect to be ruin 'd himself.

Niccolo Machiavelli

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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
Great
Towns
Uprising
Errors
Ruin
Expect
Ruined
Politics
Error
Free
Whoever
War
Conquer
Demolish
Doe
Town
Conquers
May
Commit
Commits

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From this arises the question whether 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.
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Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.
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There is nothing that Nature seems to have inclined us to as much as society.
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The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.
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Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.
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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.
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Wise men say, and not without reason, that whosoever wished to foresee the future might consult the past.
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Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.
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Thus it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, sincere, religious, and also to be so but you must have the mind so disposed that when it is needful to be otherwise you may be able to change to the opposite qualities.
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War brings out thieves and peace hangs them.
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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.
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Speaking generally, men are ungrateful, fickle, hypocritical, fearful odanger and covetous ogain.
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Good order and discipline in any army are to be depended upon more than courage alone.
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There are three kinds of brains. The one understands things unassisted, the other understands things when shown by others, the third understands neither alone nor with the explanations of others.
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Hence it happened that all the armed prophets conquered, all the unarmed perished. [It., Di qui nacque che tutti li profeti armati vincero, e li disarmati rovinarono.]
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In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.
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He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
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It is the duty of a man of honor to teach others the good which he has not been able to do himself because of the malignity of the times, that this good finally can be done by another more loved in heaven.
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Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.
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For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.
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