(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.

It is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman.

Never lead your soldiers to battle if you have not first confirmed their spirit and known them to be without fear and ordered; and never test them except when you see that they hope to win.

So in all human affairs one notices, if one examines them closely, that it is impossible to remove one inconvenience without another emerging.

Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked.

When men receive favours from someone they expected to do them ill, they are under a greater obligation to their benefactor.

....those who become princes through their skill acquire the pricipality with difficulty, buy they hold onto it with ease.