Men judge more from appearances than reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration. Everyone sees your exterior, but few can disce… - Niccolò Machiavelli

Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.

For on Cardinal Rohan saying to me that the Italians did not understand war, I replied that the French did not understand politics.

it is essential that in entering a new Province you should have the good will of its inhabitants.

It is truly a marvelous thing to consider to what greatness Athens arrived in the space of one hundred years after she freed herself from the tyranny of Pisistratus; but, above all, it is even more marvelous to consider the greatness Rome reached when she freed herself from her kings. The reason is easy to understand, for it is the common good and not private gain that makes cities great. Yet, without a doubt, this common good is observed only in republics, for in them everything that promotes it is practised, and however much damage it does to this or that private individual, those who benefit from the said common good are so numerous that they are able to advance in spite of the inclination of the few citizens who are oppressed by it.