Almost always tradition is nothing but a record and a machine-made imitation of the habits that our ancestors created.

The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opposition than from his fervent supporters.

Only the very rarest of princes can endure even a little criticism, and few of them can put up with even a pause in the adulation.

True opinions can prevail only if the facts to which they refer are known; if they are not known, false ideas are just as effective as true ones, if not a little more effective.

At the core of every moral code there is a picture of human nature, a map of the universe, and a version of history. To human nature (of the sort conceived), in a universe (of the kind imagined), after a history (so understood), the rules of the code apply.

We know that it is possible to harness desire to many interests, that evil is one form of a desire, and not the nature of it.

Private property was the original source of freedom. It still is its main bulwark.