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Men seldom rise from low condition to high rank without employing either force or fraud, unless that rank should be attained either by gift or inheritance.

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
Without
Lows
Employing
Men
Gift
Attained
Unless
Rank
Conditions
Inheritance
Either
Fraud
High
Seldom
Force
Condition
Power
Rise

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Therefore, a prudent ruler ought not to keep faith when by so doing it would be against his interest, and when the reasons which made him bind himself no longer exist. If men were all good, this precept would not be a good one but as they are bad, and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them.
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So in all human affairs one notices, if one examines them closely, that it is impossible to remove one inconvenience without another emerging.
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The sinews of war are not gold, but good soldiers.
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Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.
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Republics have a longer life and enjoy better fortune than principalities, because they can profit by their greater internal diversity. They are the better able to meet emergencies.
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Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.
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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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A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others.
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The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.
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War brings out thieves and peace hangs them.
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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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as the physicians say it happens in hectic fever, that in the beginning of the malady it is easy to cure but difficult to detect, but in the course of time, not having been either detected or treated in the beginning, it becomes easy to detect but difficult to cure
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And it will always happen that he who is not your friend will request your neutrality and he who is your friend will ask you to declare yourself by taking up arms. And irresolute princes, in order to avoid present dangers, follow the neutral road most of the time, and most of the time they are ruined.
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Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.
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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.
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Besides what has been said, people are fickle by nature and it is a simple to convince them of something but difficult to hold them in that conviction and, therefore, affairs should be managed in such a way that when they no longer believe, they can be made to believe by force.
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Wise men say, and not without reason, that whosoever wished to foresee the future might consult the past.
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With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.
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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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Men are of three different capacities: one understands intuitively another understands so far as it is explained and a third understands neither of himself nor by explanation. The first is excellent, the second, commendable, and the third, altogether useless.
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