Is it better to be loved or feared?

Few men are brave by nature, but good discipline and experience make many so.

So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil.

I say that every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel. He must, however, take care not to misuse this mercifulness.

A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others.

I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither the one nor the other in any way diminishes the strength of the enemy; but the one makes him more cautious, and the other increases his hatred of you, and makes him more persevering in his efforts to injure you

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.