Niccolò Machiavelli Quotes

Sono maggiori li spaventi ch'e mali.

One must never forget to look at the aim of a matter.

El fine si ha a riguardare in tutte le cose.

In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is lord.

In terra di ciechi chi vi ha un occhio è signore.

Le più caritative persone che sieno sono le donne, e le più fastidiose. Chi le scaccia, fugge e fastidii e l'utile; chi le intrattiene, ha l'utile ed e fastidii insieme. Ed è 'l vero che non è el mele sanza le mosche.

No circumstance is ever so desperate that one cannot nurture some spark of hope.

Non è mai alcuna cosa sì disperata, che non vi sia qualche via da poterne sperare.

That which is good for the enemy harms you, and that which is good for you harms the enemy.

Quello che giova al nimico nuoce a te, e quel che giova a te nuoce al nimico.

I believe that it is possible for one to praise, without concern, any man after he is dead since every reason and supervision for adulation is lacking.

It is not titles that make men illustrious, but men who make titles illustrious.

Titus Livius... observes, “Most wholesome is it that in affairs of great moment, supreme authority be vested in one man.” Very different, however, is the course followed by the republics and princes of our own days, who, thinking to be better served, are used to appoint several captains or commissioners to fill one command; a practice giving rise to so much confusion, that were we seeking for the causes of the overthrow of the French and Italian armies in recent times, we should find this to be the most active of any.
Rightly, therefore, may we conclude that in sending forth an army upon service, it is wiser to entrust it to one man of ordinary prudence, than to two of great parts but with a divided command.

This return of Republics back to their principles also results from the simple virtue of one man, without depending on any law that excites him to any execution: none the less, they are of such influence and example that good men desire to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life contrary to those examples.

I assert once again as a truth to which history as a whole bears witness that men may second their fortune, but cannot oppose it; that they may weave its warp, but cannot break it. Yet they should never give up, because there is always hope, though they know not the end and more towards it along roads which cross one another and as yet are unexplored; and since there is hope, they should not despair, no matter what fortune brings or in what travail they find themselves.