“The reason is easy to understand, for it is the common good and not private gain that makes cities great.”

— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, Book 2, Chapter 2

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.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”