Machiavelli's most famous lines (the ones he actually wrote)
The top 3 according to 2 votes from people: … one who deceives will always find someone who will let himself be deceived. · … men do harm either out of fear or out of hatred. · … it is much safer to be feared than loved.. (Updated Jul 13, 2024.)
From The Prince and The Art of War: Niccolò Machiavelli's lines that are still quoted, with the chapter. 'The end justifies the means' is not here: Wikiquote lists it as a misquotation.
Automatically translated (original in Italiano). See the original
Top 12
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1
… one who deceives will always find someone who will let himself be deceived.
The Prince, ch. XVIII.
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2
… men do harm either out of fear or out of hatred.
The Prince, ch. VII.
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3
… it is much safer to be feared than loved.
The Prince, ch. XVII.
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4
… he must take from the beast the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot defend himself from snares and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves.
The Prince, ch. XVIII.
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5
All armed prophets have conquered, and the unarmed have been destroyed.
The Prince, ch. VI.
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6
… men forget the death of their father sooner than the loss of their inheritance.
The Prince, ch. XVII.
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7
… it seemed more fitting to follow the real truth of things than the imagination of them.
The Prince, ch. XV.
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8
One should never allow disorder in order to avoid a war, for war is not avoided but only postponed to your disadvantage.
The Prince, ch. III.
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9
Whoever becomes master of a city used to living free and does not destroy it can expect to be destroyed by it.
The Prince, ch. V.
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10
So a prince must know how to use both the beast and the man.
The Prince, ch. XVIII.
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11
… the nature of peoples is fickle: it is easy to persuade them of something, but hard to keep them persuaded.
The Prince, ch. VI.
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12
Nature produces few brave men; diligence and training make many.
The Art of War, book VII.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 12… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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13
He is rarely defeated who knows his own strength and the enemy's.
The Art of War, book VII.
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