A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity.

Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.

No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

(A ruler) cannot and should not keep his word when to do so would go against his interests or when the reason he pledged it no longer holds.

God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.

So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil.

For that reason, let a prince have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be praised by everybody because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it; and in the world there are only the vulgar, for the few find a place there only when the many have no ground to rest on.