“Fear of evil is greater than the evil itself.”

— Niccolò Machiavelli, The Mandrake, Act III, scene xi, tr. Constantine

About Niccolò Machiavelli

1469 – 1527

Florentine diplomat and political philosopher, author of 'The Prince' (1513) and 'Discourses on Livy'.

“There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.”

“It is not titles that make men illustrious, but men who make titles illustrious.”

“Cunning and deceit will every time serve a man better than force to rise from a base condition to great fortune.”

“When in doubt, tell the truth.”

“I never "worry" about action, but only about inaction.”

“The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear.”

“Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.”

“You really only know when you know little. Doubt grows with knowledge.”

“Let those flatter who fear; it is not an American art.”