A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
A man who wishes to profess at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
A prince must not have any other object nor any other thoughtà but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
A wise prince then...should never be idle in times of peace but should industriously lay up stores of which to avail himself in times of adversity so that when Fortune abandons him he may be prepared to resist her blows. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
And although one should not reason about Moses, as he was a mere executor of things that had been ordered for him by God, nonetheless he should be admired if only for that grace which made him deserving of speaking with God. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
And in examining their life and deeds it will be seen that they owed nothing to fortune but the opportunity which gave them matter to be shaped into the form that they thought fit; and without that opportunity their powers would have been wasted, and without their powers the opportunity would have come in vain. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
And truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised or not blamed; but when they cannot, and wish to do it anyway, here lies the error and the blame. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")
For on Cardinal Rohan saying to me that the Italians did not understand war, I replied that the French did not understand politics. (Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince")