It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.
Ognuno vede quello che tu pari, pochi sentono quello che tu se.
Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
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.
Men are so stupid and concerned with their present needs, they will always let themselves be deceived.
The unarmed man is not just defenseless – he is also contemptible.
A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
In war, discipline can do more than fury.
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.
It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free.
The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
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.
Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.
It is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman.
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.
There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.
He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
A battle that you win cancels all your mistakes.