Men are always averse to enterprises in which they foresee difficulties.

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

There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not. It is simply unreasonable to expect that an armed man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should remain safe and secure when his servants are armed.

The reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order.

There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.

States that rise quickly, just as all the other things of nature that are born and grow rapidly, cannot have roots and ramifications; the first bad weather kills them

The prince who relies upon their words, without having otherwise provided for his security, is ruined; for friendships that are won by awards, and not by greatness and nobility of soul, although deserved, yet are not real, and cannot be depended upon in time of adversity.