For government consists in nothing else but so controlling subjects that they shall neither be able to, nor have cause to do [it] harm.

All the States and Governments by which men are or ever have been ruled, have been and are either Republics or Princedoms.

For he who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new.

But in Republics there is a stronger vitality, a fiercer hatred, a keener thirst for revenge. The memory of their former freedom will not let them rest; so that the safest course is either to destroy them, or to go and live in them.

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

Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds.

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.