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How perilous it is to free a people who prefer slavery.

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
Perilous
Prefer
Slavery
Free
People

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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.
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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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Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself for that power is produced by him either through craft or force and both of these are suspected by the one who has been raised to power.
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For one change always leaves a dovetail into which another will fit.
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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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A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.
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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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Men ought either to be well treated, or crushed.
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To ensure victory the troops must have confidence in themselves as well as in their commanders.
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For as good habits of the people require good laws to support them, so laws, to be observed, need good habits on the part of the people.
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For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.
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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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I say that every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel. He must, however, take care not to misuse this mercifulness.
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When they remain in garrison, soldiers are maintained with fear and punishment when they are then led to war, with hope and reward.
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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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A multitude is strong while it holds together, but so soon as each of those who compose it begins ro think of his own private danger, it becomes weak and contemptible.
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Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.
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There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not. It is simply unreasonable to expect that an armed man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should remain safe and secure when his servants are armed.
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One should never allow chaos to develop in order to avoid going to war, because one does not avoid a war but instead puts it off to his disadvantage
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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.
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