Many have dreamed up republics and principalities that have never in truth been known to exist the gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation.
More Quotes from Niccoló Machiavelli:
To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people.Niccolo Machiavelli
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
Niccoló Machiavelli
Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Wise men say, and not without reason, that whoever wished to foresee the future might consult the past.
Niccoló Machiavelli
Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.
Niccolo Machiavelli
He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building.
Niccoló Machiavelli
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Based on Topics: Man Quotes, Truth QuotesBased on Keywords: neglects, principalities
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