You have to be a prince to understand the people, and you have to belong to the people to understand the princes.

I don't doubt that every prince would like to be both; but since it is hard to accomodate these qualities, if you have to make a choice, to be feared is much safer than to be loved. For it is a good general rule about men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain....[love] is a link of obligation which men, because they are rotten, will break anything they think doing so serves their advantage; but fear involves dread of punishment, from which they can never escape.

The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.

And above all you ought to guard against leading an army to fight which is afraid or which is not confident of victory. For the greatest sign of an impending loss is when one does not believe one can win.

When settling disputes between his subjects, he should ensure that his judgement is irrevocable; and he should be so regarded that no one ever dreams of trying to deceive or trick him.

In respect to foresight and firmness, the people are more prudent, more stable, and have better judgement than princes.

Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.