It is a true observation of ancient writers, that as men are apt to be cast down by adversity, so they, are easily satiated with prosperity, and that joy and grief produce the same effects. For whenever men are not obliged by necessity to fight they fight from ambition, which is so powerful a passion in the human breast that however high we reach we are never satisfied.
Niccolo MachiavelliGod and nature have thrown all human fortunes into the midst of mankind; and they are thus attainable rather by rapine than by industry, by wicked actions rather than by good. Hence it is that men feed upon each other, and those who cannot defend themselves must be worried.
Niccolo MachiavelliGood order and discipline in any army are to be depended upon more than courage alone.
Niccolo MachiavelliA government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted.
Niccolo Machiavelli