Niccolò Machiavelli
Florentine political philosopher and diplomat (1469 to 1527); Second Chancellor of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512; author of The Prince.
Niccolò Machiavelli did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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A ruler should inflict injuries all at once and grant benefits little by little
For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer.
gutenberg.orgSaid c. 1513–1514This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 6 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
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A ruler should inflict injuries all at once and grant benefits little by little
For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer.
The Prince (tr. W. K. Marriott, 1908) Said c. 1513–1514
The chief foundations of every state are good laws and good arms, and good laws depend on being well armed
The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws.
The Prince (tr. W. K. Marriott, 1908) Said c. 1513–1514
Advice should follow how people actually live, since acting wholly on professed virtue among so much evil leads to ruin
But, it being my intention to write a thing which shall be useful to him who apprehends it, it appears to me more appropriate to follow up the real truth of the matter than the imagination of it; for many have pictured republics and principalities which in fact have never been known or seen, because how one lives is so far distant from how one ought to live, that he who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation; for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil.
The Prince (tr. W. K. Marriott, 1908) Said c. 1513–1514
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A ruler should wish to be both loved and feared, but if one must be given up it is much safer to be feared
It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.
The Prince (tr. W. K. Marriott, 1908) Said c. 1513–1514
A wise ruler need not keep his word when it would harm him and its reasons are gone, because people are not wholly good
Therefore a wise lord cannot, nor ought he to, keep faith when such observance may be turned against him, and when the reasons that caused him to pledge it exist no longer. If men were entirely good this precept would not hold, but because they are bad, and will not keep faith with you, you too are not bound to observe it with them.
The Prince (tr. W. K. Marriott, 1908) Said c. 1513–1514
Since fortune changes and people keep to their ways, people succeed while the two agree and fail when they diverge
I conclude, therefore that, fortune being changeful and mankind steadfast in their ways, so long as the two are in agreement men are successful, but unsuccessful when they fall out.
The Prince (tr. W. K. Marriott, 1908) Said c. 1513–1514
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