A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.
Niccolo MachiavelliFor a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.
Niccolo MachiavelliStates 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
Niccolo MachiavelliSpeaking generally, men are ungrateful, fickle, hypocritical, fearful odanger and covetous ogain.
Niccolo MachiavelliAs the observance of divine institutions is the cause of the greatness of republics, so the disregard of them produces their ruin; for where the fear of God is wanting, there the country will come to ruin, unless it be sustained the fear of the prince, which temporarily supply the want of religion.
Niccolo Machiavelli