Men are so simple and yield so readily to the desires of the moment that he who will trick will always find another who will suffer to be tricked. – Niccolo Machiavelli
War is just when it is necessary arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms. – Niccolo Machiavelli
Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared. – Niccolo Machiavelli
Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces. – Niccolo Machiavelli
It is only a mans own fundamental thoughts that have truth and life in them. For it is these that he really and completely understands. To read the thoughts of others is like taking the remains of someone elses meal, like putting on the discarded clothes of a stranger. – Arthur Schopenhauer