Niccolo Machiavelli

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.

The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good read more

The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms - you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow

Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if read more

Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be observed, have need of good morals.

Since love and fear can hardly coexist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be read more

Since love and fear can hardly coexist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.

States that rise quickly, just as all the other things of nature that are born and grow rapidly, cannot have read more

States that rise quickly, just as all the other things of nature that are born and grow rapidly, cannot have roots and ramifications; the first bad weather kills them