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God creates men, but they choose each other.

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
Men
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Choose
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More quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli

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You must never believe that the enemy does not know how to conduct his own affairs. Indeed, if you want to be deceived less and want to bear less danger, the more the enemy is weak or the less the enemy is cautious, so much more must you esteem him.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Human beings remain constant in their methods of conduct.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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A prince is also respected when he is a true friend and a true enemy that is, when he declares himself on the side of one prince against another without any reservation.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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By the delusions of seeming good the people are often misled to desire their own ruin and they are frequently influenced by great hopes and brave promises.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither the one nor the other in any way diminishes the strength of the enemy but the one makes him more cautious, and the other increases his hatred of you, and makes him more persevering in his efforts to injure you
Niccolo Machiavelli
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The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
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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The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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One must consider the final result
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves
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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(A ruler) cannot and should not keep his word when to do so would go against his interests or when the reason he pledged it no longer holds.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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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.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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There is nothing as likely to succeed as what the enemy believes you cannot attempt.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Thus it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, sincere, religious, and also to be so but you must have the mind so disposed that when it is needful to be otherwise you may be able to change to the opposite qualities.
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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He who builds on the people, builds on the mud
Niccolo Machiavelli