Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.

The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.

Change has no constituency.

A prince must not have any objective nor any thought, nor take up any art, other than the art of war and its ordering and discipline; because it is the only art that pertains to him who commands. And it is of such virtue that not only does it maintain those who were born princes, but many times makes men rise to that rank from private station.

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

Men are able to assist fortune but not to thwart her. They can weave her designs, but they cannot destroy them.

Results are often obtained by impetuosity and daring which could never have been obtained by ordinary methods.