There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.

Wisdom consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the lesser evil.

Republics have a longer life and enjoy better fortune than principalities, because they can profit by their greater internal diversity. They are the better able to meet emergencies.

So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil.

You must never believe that the enemy does not know how to conduct his own affairs. Indeed, if you want to be deceived less and want to bear less danger, the more the enemy is weak or the less the enemy is cautious, so much more must you esteem him.

For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.

Prudence therefore consists in knowing how to distinguish degrees of disadvantage.