There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.

A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought… but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.

(A ruler) cannot and should not keep his word when to do so would go against his interests or when the reason he pledged it no longer holds.

Ability and perseverance are the weapons of weakness.

The prince who relies upon their words, without having otherwise provided for his security, is ruined; for friendships that are won by awards, and not by greatness and nobility of soul, although deserved, yet are not real, and cannot be depended upon in time of adversity.

A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance.

One must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves