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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

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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
Greatness
Follow
Tinge
Path
Trodden
Doe
Prudent
Great
Imitate
Always
Attain
Men
Excellent
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More quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli

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There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not. It is simply unreasonable to expect that an armed man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should remain safe and secure when his servants are armed.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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It is necessary that the prince should know how to color his nature well, and how to be a hypocrite and dissembler. For men are so simple, and yield so much to immediate necessity, that the deceiver will never lack dupes.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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We must distinguish between those who depend on others, that is between those who to achieve their purposes can force the issue and those who must use persuasion. In the second case, they always come to grief, having achieved nothing when, however, they depend on their own resources and can force the issue, then they are seldom endangered.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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You do not know the unfathomable cowardice of humanity...servile in the face of force, pitiless in the face of weakness, implacable before blunders, indulgent before crimes...and patient to the point of martyrdom before all the violences of bold despotism.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Therefore, in order not to have to rob his subjects, to be able to defend himself, not to become poor and contemptible, and not to be forced to become rapacious, a prince must consider it of little importance if he incurs the name of miser, for this is one of the vices that permits him to rule.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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For without invention, no one was ever a great man in his own trade.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The state is not an organism capable of bringing either moral or material improvements to the populace...but merely a vehicle of power for the men and party in power.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The world has always been the same and there is always as much good fortune as bad in it.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The peasant wants only to be left alone to prosper in peace.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The innovator has for enemies all who have done well under the old, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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No one should therefore fear that he cannot accomplish what others have accomplished, for, men are born, live, and die in quite the same way they always have.
Niccolo Machiavelli