"Men must either be caressed or annihilated; they will revenge themselves for slight wrongs, but not for great ones."

"Because there are three ways of holding conquered states that are accustomed to living under their own laws and in freedom: the first is to ruin them, the next is to reside there in person, the third …"

"The vulgar are always taken by appearances and by the outcome of a thing; and in the world there are only the vulgar."

"For where the fear of God is wanting, it is inevitable that the kingdom will come to ruin, or that it will be sustained by the fear of a prince, which will supply the want of religion."

"A prince must be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves."