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How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation.
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
Ought
Study
Rather
Learn
Live
Done
Downfall
Different
Preservation
Way
Studies
More quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli
A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers.
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Never do your enemy a minor injury.
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I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither the one nor the other in any way diminishes the strength of the enemy but the one makes him more cautious, and the other increases his hatred of you, and makes him more persevering in his efforts to injure you
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Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.
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For without invention, no one was ever a great man in his own trade.
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Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
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For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying
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Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
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Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
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If the present be compared with the remote past, it is easily seen that in all cities and in all peoples there are the same desires and the same passions as there always were.
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...it is a base thing to look to others for your defense instead of depending upon yourself. That defense alone is effectual, sure, and durable which depends upon yourself and your own valor.
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Benefits should be conferred gradually and in that way they will taste better.
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I'm not interested in preserving the status quo I want to overthrow it.
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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.
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A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.
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For as laws are necessary that good manners be preserved, so there is need of good manners that law may be maintained.
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Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.
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For as good habits of the people require good laws to support them, so laws, to be observed, need good habits on the part of the people.
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Fear is secured by a dread of punishment.
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Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.
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