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So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil.

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
Arise
Sticks
Follow
Path
Evil
Arises
War
Prince
Able
Necessity
Good
Stick

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Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.
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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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Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.
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A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from snares, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves.
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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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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.
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The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
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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.
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Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.
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Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.
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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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With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.
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Fear is secured by a dread of punishment.
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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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The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.
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Those who either from imprudence or want of sagacity avoid doing so, are always overwhelmed with servitude and poverty for faithful servants are always servants, and honest men are always poor nor do any ever escape from servitude but the bold and faithless, or from poverty, but the rapacious and fraudulent.
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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.
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Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.
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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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Since the handling of arms is a beautiful spectacle, it is delightful to young men.
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