Good order and discipline in any army are to be depended upon more than courage alone.

It is much better to tempt fortune where it can favor you than to see your certain ruin by not tempting it.

...it is a base thing to look to others for your defense instead of depending upon yourself. That defense alone is effectual, sure, and durable which depends upon yourself and your own valor.

War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.

The prince must be a lion, but he must also know how to play the fox.

Is it better to be loved or feared?

I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself.