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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
Follow
Tinge
Path
Trodden
Doe
Prudent
Great
Imitate
Always
Attain
Men
Excellent
Rate
Greatness

More quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli

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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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Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself another which appreciates what others comprehend and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.
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Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Any harm you do to a man should be done in such a way that you need not fear his revenge.
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People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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He who builds on the people, builds on the mud
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
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He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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States that rise quickly, just as all the other things of nature that are born and grow rapidly, cannot have roots and ramifications the first bad weather kills them
Niccolo Machiavelli
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There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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And when he is obliged to take the life of any one, to do so when there is a proper justification and manifest reason for it but above all he must abstain from taking the property of others, for men forget more easily the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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
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There is nothing as likely to succeed as what the enemy believes you cannot attempt.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The forces of adversaries are more diminished by the loss of those who flee than of those who are killed.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
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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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