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It is better to be bold than too circumspect, because fortune is of a sex which likes not a tardy wooer and repulses all who are not ardent.

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
Sex
Better
Tardy
Circumspect
Ardent
Boldness
Bold
Likes
Fortune

More quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli

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Where the very safety of the country depends upon the resolution to be taken, no consideration of justice or injustice, humanity or cruelty, nor of glory or of shame, should be allowed to prevail. But putting all other considerations aside, the only question should be: What course will save the life and liberty of the country?
Niccolo Machiavelli
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...it behooves us to adapt oneself to the times if one wants to enjoy continued good fortune.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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How perilous it is to free a people who prefer slavery.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Wise men say, and not without reason, that whosoever wished to foresee the future might consult the past.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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No one should therefore fear that he cannot accomplish what others have accomplished, for, men are born, live, and die in quite the same way they always have.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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God and nature have thrown all human fortunes into the midst of mankind and they are thus attainable rather by rapine than by industry, by wicked actions rather than by good. Hence it is that men feed upon each other, and those who cannot defend themselves must be worried.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Good order and discipline in any army are to be depended upon more than courage alone.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Human beings remain constant in their methods of conduct.
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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A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Results are often obtained by impetuosity and daring which could never have been obtained by ordinary methods.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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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I hope and hoping feeds my pain I weep and weeping feeds my failing heart I laugh but the laughter does not pass within I burn but the burning makes no mark outside.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Only those means of security are good, are certain, are lasting, that depend on yourself and your own vigor.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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There are three kinds of brains: One understands of itself, another can be taught to understand, and the third can neither understand to itself or be taught to understand.
Niccolo Machiavelli