511 Quotes by Niccolò Machiavelli

For, besides what has been said, it should be borne in mind that the temper of the multitude is fickle, and that while it is easy to persuade them of a thing, it is hard to fix them in that persuasion.

I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles.

Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.

Women are the most charitable creatures, and the most troublesome. He who shuns women passes up the trouble, but also the benefits. He who puts up with them gains the benefits, but also the trouble. As the saying goes, there’s no honey without bees.

Ognuno vede quello che tu pari, pochi sentono quello che tu se.

There is in everything a latent evil peculiar to it.

A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one’s own ignorance.

Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot.

The unarmed man is not just defenseless – he is also contemptible.