"When countries that have rebelled are later acquired for the second time, they are lost with more difficulty, because the lord... is less hesitant to secure himselve by punishing offenders, exposing suspects, and providing for himselve in the weakest spots."

"[M]en should either be caressed or eliminated, because they avenge themselves for slight offenses but can not do so for grave ones; so the offense one does to a man should be such that one does not fear revenge for it."

"But in republics there is greater life, greater hatred, more desire for revenge; the memory of their ancient liberty does not and can not let them rest, so that the most secure path is to eliminate them or live in them."

"He should do as prudent archers do when the place they plan to hit appears to be too distant... they set their aim much higher than the place intended, not to reach such a height with their arrow, but to be able with the aid of so high an aim to achieve their plan."

"And whoever believes that among great personages new benefits will make old injuries be forgotten deceives himself."

"It  should be noted that in taking hold of a state, he who seizes it should review all the offenses necessary for him to commit, and do them all at a stroke… For injuries must be done all together, so that, being tasted less, they offend list; and benefits should be done little by little so that they may be tasted better."

"[T]here can not be good laws where there are not good arms, and where there are good arms there must be good laws..."

"For a man who wants to make a profession of good in all regards must come to ruin among so many who are not good. Hence it is necessary to a prince, if he wants to maintain himself, to learn to be able not to be good, and to use this and not use it according to necessity... And furthermore one should not care about incurring the infamy of those vices without which it is difficult to save one's state..."

"From this a dispute arises whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The response is that one would want to be both the one and the other, but because it is difficult to put them together, it is much safer to be feared than loved if one has to lack one of the two… And men have less hesitation to offend one who makes himself loved then one who makes himself feared… [S]ince men love at their convenience and fear at the convenience of the prince, a wise prince should... only contrive to avoid hatred, as was said."

"...one should note that hatred is acquired through good deeds as well as bad ones..."

"For there is no other way to guard oneself from flattery unless men understand that they do not offend you in telling you the truth; but when everyone can tell you the truth, they lack reference for you. Therefore, a prudent prince must hold to a third mode: choosing wise men in his state; and only to these should he give freedom to speak the truth to him, and of those things only that he asks about and nothing else... Aside from these, he should not want to hear anyone; he should move directly to the thing that was decided in be obstinate in his decisions. Whoever does otherwise either falls headlong because of flatterers or changes often because of the variability of views, from which a low estimation of him arises."

"…men will always turn out bad for you unless they have been made good by a necessity. So one concludes that good counsel, from wherever it comes, must arise from the prudence of the prince, and not the prudence of the prince from good counsel."

"...[F]ortune, which demonstrates her power [of demise] where virtue has not been put in order to resist her and therefore turns her impetus where she knows that dams and dikes have not been made to contain her."

"Here there is great justice: 'for war is just to whom it is necessary, and arms are pious when there is no hope but in arms'."