Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.
Niccolo MachiavelliNo enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
Niccolo MachiavelliTo know well the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to know well the nature of princes one must be of the people.
Niccolo MachiavelliHe who desires or attempts to reform the government of a state and wishes to have it accepted, must at least retain the semblance of the old forms; so that it may seem to the people that there has been no change in the institutions, even though in fact they are entirely different from the old ones. For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities.
Niccolo Machiavelli