I leave you the best phrases of Machiavelli (1469-1527), Italian diplomat, philosopher and writer, known for writing the political treatise The Prince. He was a diplomat for 14 years in the Florentine Republic of Italy during the exile of the Medici family. When the Medici family returned to power in 1512, Machiavelli was fired and briefly imprisoned.
After this he wrote The Prince, a manual for politicians on the use of ruthless and selfish cunning, inspiring the term "Machiavellian" and establishing Machiavelli as the "father of modern political theory." He also wrote various poems and plays. He died on June 21, 1527, in Florence, Italy.
"Machiavellianism" is a negative term used to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the kind that Machiavelli described in The Prince.
Machiavelli described immoral behavior, such as dishonesty and the killing of innocents, as normal and effective in politics. It even seemed to back him up in some situations.
The book gained notoriety when some readers claimed that the author was teaching evil and providing "bad advice to tyrants to help them maintain their power." You may also be interested in these reading phrases or these from great books.
-The men offend before the one they love than the one they fear.
-A prince is never without legitimate reasons to break his promises.
-It is a common fault of men not to worry about the storm during the bonanza.
-The common people are always seduced by appearance and success.
-The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the more clearly we should see through it.
-Men go from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack and then they attack others.
- Politics has no relation to morality.
-Whoever wants constant success must change his behavior with the times.
-Men are driven mainly by two impulses; either out of love or out of fear.
-The promise given was a necessity of the past; the broken word is a present necessity.
-Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.
-God does not want to do everything, so as not to take away your free will and that part of the glory that corresponds to you.
-There is nothing more important than pretending to be religious.
-The best strength that a prince can possess is the affection of his people.
-It is not titles that honor men, but men honor titles.
-The princes and governments are much more dangerous than other elements in society.
-The vulgar is always taken by appearances and the world is mainly composed of the vulgar.
-Old offenses are not erased with new benefits, especially when the benefit is less than the injury.
-It is doubly pleasant to lie to the impostor.
-There is no other way than to protect yourself from flattery than to make others understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
-The first method to estimate the intelligence of a governor is to look at the men around him.
-Nothing great was ever achieved without danger.
-Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.
-He who wants to be obeyed must know how to command.
-Never try to win by force what can be won by lying.
-I am not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow him.
-Nature creates few brave men; industry and training do many.
-Men are seldom brave enough to be either extremely good or extremely bad.
-First of all, arm yourself.
-The end justifies the means.
-Hatred is earned both by good works and by evil.
-It is better to act and regret than not to act and regret.
-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 scare the wolves.
-To understand the nature of the people, one must be a prince and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be the people.
-Where the will is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
-A prince who is not wise cannot be well advised and, therefore, cannot rule.
-It is better to be loved than feared, if you cannot be both.
-The man forgets the death of his father before the loss of his heritage.
-Men in general judge more by appearances than by reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.
-War is only when it is necessary; weapons are permissible when there is no hope except weapons.
-The prudent prince should prefer to surround himself with men of good judgment to whom he will give the freedom to tell him the truth.
-There is nothing more difficult to undertake, nor more doubtful to succeed, nor more dangerous to administer than the elaboration of a new order.
-A change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others.
-If whoever governs does not recognize evils until they are upon him, he is not really wise.
-Men inherently do not trust new things that they have not experienced for themselves.
-There can be no great difficulties where good will abounds.
-Men should be treated generously or destroyed, because they can take revenge for minor injuries, they cannot take revenge on strong ones.
-The men who do not do well are always afraid that others will respond to them with the actions that their own deserve.
- Of the human beings in general, it can be said that they are hypocritical and greedy.
-He who cheats will always find someone who is deceived.
-In all human things, when examined closely, it is shown that obstacles cannot be removed without others arising from them.
-There is nothing more difficult to carry out, more dangerous to lead or more uncertain in its success than taking the initiative in the introduction of a new order of things.
-There is no war to avoid; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
- Tardiness often robs us of opportunity and steals our strength.
- Experience has always shown that things never happen well when they depend on many.
-History is the science of men, of men in time.
-Minorities have no place when the majority has a place to lean.
-Just war is one that is necessary.
-A prince who has a strong city and who is not hated by his people cannot be attacked.
-There are three kinds of brains: the first discerns by itself, the second understands what the others discern and the third does not understand or discern what the others discern. The first is excellent, the second good, and the third useless.
-Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of the problem and choosing the lesser evil.
-When you see the servant think more about his own interests than yours, and who inwardly seeks his own benefits in all things, that man will never be a good servant, nor can you ever trust him.
-If an injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his revenge need not be feared.
-It is a bad example not to observe a law, especially on the part of the one who has made it.
-Laws should not look towards things that are past, but provide for future ones.
- The hatreds of men generally are born of fear or envy.
-The wise man does to the first what the fool does to the last.
-It is not necessary for a prince to possess all the aforementioned virtues, but it is essential that he appear to possess them.
-It should be considered very little to live in a city where the laws can less than men.
-You should not attack power if you are not sure of destroying it.
-Punishing one or two offenders to serve as an example is kinder than being too compassionate.
-Mercenary armies and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous.
-When you have been a good friend, you find good friends even in spite of yourself.
- I believe that the true way to know the way to paradise is to know the one that leads to hell, in order to avoid it.
-I never say what I believe, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if a truth escapes me from time to time, I hide it among so many lies that it is difficult to recognize it.
-It is essential to know how to disguise things well and to be a master in pretending.
-The nature of arrogant and vile men is to be insolent in prosperity and abject and humble in adversity.
-A law must never violate the faith committed to public covenants.
- A son can bear the loss of his father with equanimity, but the loss of his inheritance can drive him to despair.
- Of humanity we can say in general that they are fickle, hypocritical and greedy for profit.
-The nature that framed us of four elements, fighting in our bosoms for the regiment, teaches us all to have aspiring minds.
-Before everything else, arm yourself.
-War must be the only study of a prince. You should view peace only as a breathing time, which gives you time to invent, and provides the ability to execute military plans.
-The first method to estimate the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men around him.
-It is much safer to be feared than loved because love is preserved by the bond of obligation which, due to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity to your advantage; but fear preserves you out of a fear of punishment that never fails.
-People should be stroked or crushed. If you do them less damage you will get their revenge; But if you cripple them there is nothing they can do
-All courses of action are risky, so prudence does not consist in avoiding danger (it is impossible), but in calculating the risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of laziness. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.
-The way we live is so different from how we should live that he who studies what must be done instead of what is done will learn the way to its fall rather than its preservation.
-And here comes the question of whether it is better to be loved instead of feared, or feared instead of loved. It could perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is much safer to be feared than loved.
-We must remember that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, or more dangerous to manage than a new system. Because the initiator has the enmity of all those who would benefit from the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain something from the new.
-The prudent man must always follow the path trodden by the great men and imitate the most excellent, so that if he does not achieve his greatness, at least he will receive something from it.
-It is necessary for the one who establishes a state and organizes laws, which presupposes that all men are evil and that they will always act in accordance with the evil of their spirits whenever they have a free way.
-Any man who tries to be good all the time is destined to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to preserve his authority must learn not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.
-A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example is so influential that good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.
-A prudent man must always follow the paths traced by great men and imitate those who have excelled extraordinarily above the rest, so that, although their virtue is not achieved, something remains for us, nevertheless, of her scent.
-There are three ways to preserve a State that, before being acquired, was used to being governed by its own laws and living in freedom: first, destroy it, then settle in it; finally, let it govern by its laws, force it to pay a tribute and establish a government made up of a small number of people, to be in charge of watching over the conquest.
-Because just as those who draw are placed below, on the plain, to consider the nature of the mountains and high places and, to consider that of the lowlands, they are placed above, on the mountains, also to know well the nature of peoples, it is necessary to be a prince, and to know well that of princes, it is necessary to be of the people.
-When evening comes, I go home and go into my study. At the threshold I take off my dirty, sweaty clothes, during the working day, I put on the robes of the court and the palace, and in this more serious dress I enter the old courts of the ancients and I am received by them, and there I taste the food that is only mine, and for which I was born. And there I dare to speak to them and ask them the reasons for their actions, and they, in their humanity, answer me. And for the space of four hours I forget the world, I do not remember any humiliation, I no longer fear poverty, I no longer tremble at death: I do pass into their world.