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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

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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
Three
Third
Another
Thirds
Kind
Kinds
Neither
Taught
Brain
Understanding
Understands
Understand
Brains

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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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I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself.
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So long as the great majority of men are not deprived of either property or honor, they are satisfied.
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For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying
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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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It is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman.
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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
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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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With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.
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Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.
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Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.
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We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either.
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Men are always averse to enterprises in which they foresee difficulties.
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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 in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.
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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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A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.
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He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.
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the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.
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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.
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