"For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often even more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are."

"He who desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with the assumption that all men are bad, and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it."

"It is not fortune, but their own indolence, that causes men to abandon themselves to their fate."

"No state is ever well established unless it has a good army."

"It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both."