The princes who have done great things are the ones who have taken little account of their promises.

Men are always wicked at bottom unless they are made good by some compulsion.

Benefits should be granted little by little, so that they may be better enjoyed.

Therefore, a prudent ruler ought not to keep faith when by so doing it would be against his interest, and when the reasons which made him bind himself no longer exist. If men were all good, this precept would not be a good one; but as they are bad, and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them.

A multitude is strong while it holds together, but so soon as each of those who compose it begins ro think of his own private danger, it becomes weak and contemptible.

My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved.

Present wars impoverish the lords that win as much as those that lose.