“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“Never was anything great achieved without danger.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“Whenever you want to improve anything, you have to change; it is not comfortable but there is no alternative.”
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it; or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.”
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
"The peasant wants only to be left alone to prosper in peace."
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
"He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss."
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
"There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless."
— Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)