To be feared is much safer then to be loved.

I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.

One can say this in general of men: they are ungrateful, disloyal, insincere and deceitful, timid of danger and avid of profit...Love is a bond of obligation that these miserable creatures break whenever it suits them to do so; but fear holds them fast by a dread of punishment that never passes.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

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.

The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.

Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it; or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.