Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.

If someone puts up the argument that King Louis gave the Romagna to Pope Alexander, and the kingdom of Naples to Spain, in order to avoid a war, I would answer as I did before: that you should never let things get out of hand in order to avoid war. You don't avoid such a war, you merely postpone it, to your own disadvantage.

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

You have to be a prince to understand the people, and you have to belong to the people to understand the princes.

Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.

A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers.

I don't doubt that every prince would like to be both; but since it is hard to accomodate these qualities, if you have to make a choice, to be feared is much safer than to be loved. For it is a good general rule about men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain....[love] is a link of obligation which men, because they are rotten, will break anything they think doing so serves their advantage; but fear involves dread of punishment, from which they can never escape.