A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it according to the necessity of the case.

For without invention, no one was ever a great man in his own trade.

Human beings remain constant in their methods of conduct.

Nothing is of greater importance in time of war than in knowing how to make the best use of a fair opportunity when it is offered.

With difficulty he is beaten who can estimate his own forces and those of his enemy.

Present wars impoverish the lords that win as much as those that lose.

If the chief party, whether it be the people, or the army, or the nobility, which you think most useful and of most consequence to you for the conservation of your dignity, be corrupt, you must follow their humor and indulge them, and in that case honesty and virtue are pernicious.