A prince is also respected when he is a true friend and a true enemy; that is, when he declares himself on the side of one prince against another without any reservation.

If you only notice human proceedings, you may observe that all who attain great power and riches, make use of either force or fraud; and what they have acquired either by deceit or violence, in order to conceal the disgraceful methods of attainment, they endeavor to sanctify with the false title of honest gains.

The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.

A wise prince then...should never be idle in times of peace but should industriously lay up stores of which to avail himself in times of adversity so that when fortune abandons him he may be prepared to resist her blows.

In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.

In our own days we have seen no princes accomplish great results save those who have been accounted miserly.

So long as the great majority of men are not deprived of either property or honor, they are satisfied.