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The reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order.

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
Would
Lukewarm
Reformers
Defenders
Enemies
Profit
Enemy
Order
Reformer
Change
Incredulity

More quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli

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Men are less hesitant about harming someone who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared because love is held together by a chain of obligation which, since men are wretched creatures, is broken on every occasion in which their own interests are concerned but fear is sustained by dread of punishment which will never abandon you.
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Princes should delegate to others the enactment of unpopular measures and keep in their own hands the means of winning favours.
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I say that every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel. He must, however, take care not to misuse this mercifulness.
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Never lead your soldiers to battle if you have not first confirmed their spirit and known them to be without fear and ordered and never test them except when you see that they hope to win.
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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.
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For one change always leaves a dovetail into which another will fit.
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One must consider the final result
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For without invention, no one was ever a great man in his own trade.
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....for friendships that are acquired by a price and not by greatness and nobility of character are purchased but are not owned, and at the proper moment they cannot be spent.
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If the course of human affairs be considered, it will be seen that many things arise against which heaven does not allow us to guard.
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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 if, to be sure, sometimes you need to conceal a fact with words, do it in such a way that it does not become known, or, if it does become known, that you have a ready and quick defense.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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You know better than I that in a Republic talent is always suspect. A man attains an elevated position only when his mediocrity prevents him from being a threat to others. And for this reason a democracy is never governed by the most competent, but rather by those whose insignificance will not jeopardize anyone else's self-esteem.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
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.
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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 one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Without doubt, ferocious and disordered men are much weaker than timid and ordered ones. For order chases fear from men and disorder lessens ferocity.
Niccolo Machiavelli