21 Great Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes for Leaders

The name Niccolo Machiavelli evokes emotion over 400 years after he first shared his manuscript for The Prince as a gift for Prince Lorenzo De’ Medici of Florence, Italy.

Niccolo Machiavelli was a Florentine statesman and philosopher whose works influenced leaders for generations. He described power politics; uncoupling morality from actions.

While some of his positions are controversial, the quotes in this article are both pragmatic and wise – even by today’s standards.

1. “All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but in calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”

2. “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men around him.”

3. “I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.”

4. “A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, are no longer in harmony with his ways.”

5. “Whoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”

6. “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.”

7. “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”

8. “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.”

9. “There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.”

10. “Never was anything great achieved without danger.”

11. “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”

12. “People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge, but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.”

13. “Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.”

14. “It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.”

15. “Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.”

16. “Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are; and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.”

17. “How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation.”

18. “Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.”

19. “Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.”

20. “A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways.”

21. “A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate, he will get some tinge of it.”

Which quotes were most useful to you today? How might you apply that lesson to your life?

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