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Whoever takes it upon himself to establish a commonwealth and prescribe laws must presuppose all men naturally bad, and that they will yield to their innate evil passions as often as they can do so with safety.

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
Takes
Innate
Passion
Establish
Law
Passions
Upon
Yield
Evil
Whoever
Often
Naturally
Presuppose
Must
Safety
Prescribe
Men
Laws
Commonwealth

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Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.
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It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.
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From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.
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He who builds on the people, builds on the mud
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God creates men, but they choose each other.
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But in Republics there is a stronger vitality, a fiercer hatred, a keener thirst for revenge. The memory of their former freedom will not let them rest so that the safest course is either to destroy them, or to go and live in them.
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One should never fall in the belief that you can find someone to pick you up.
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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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Men nearly always follow the tracks made by others and proceed in their affairs by imitation, even though they cannot entirely keep to the tracks of others or emulate the prowess of their models. So a prudent man should always follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been outstanding.
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Sometimes it has been of great moment while the fight is going on, to disseminate words that pronounce the enemies' captain to be dead, or to have been conquered by another part of the army. Many times this has given victory to him who used it.
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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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...it behooves us to adapt oneself to the times if one wants to enjoy continued good fortune.
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If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
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All the States and Governments by which men are or ever have been ruled, have been and are either Republics or Princedoms.
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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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Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
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Only those means of security are good, are certain, are lasting, that depend on yourself and your own vigor.
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The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.
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For one change always leaves a dovetail into which another will fit.
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Hence it happened that all the armed prophets conquered, all the unarmed perished. [It., Di qui nacque che tutti li profeti armati vincero, e li disarmati rovinarono.]
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