Nothing is as dangerous for the state as those who would govern kingdoms with maxims found in books.

If God forbade drinking, would He have made wine so good?

Bakers of bread rolls and pastry cooks will not buy grain before eleven o'clock in winter and noon in summer; bakers of large loaves will not buy grain before two o'clock. This will enable the people of the town to obtain their supply first. Bakers shall put a distinctive trademark on their loaves, and keep weights and scales in their shops, under penalty of having their licenses removed.

Never write a letter and never destroy one.

Deception is the knowledge of kings.

Carry on any enterprise as if all future success depended on it.

One must believe neither the people of the palace, who ordinarily measure the power of the king by the shape of his crown, which, being round, has no end, nor those who, in the excesses of an indiscreet zeal, proclaim themselves openly as partisans of Rome.