“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.”

— Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter VI (1513)

About Niccolò Machiavelli

1469 – 1527

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

“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.”

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

“Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is Change.”

“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.”

“Science is not the truth. Science is finding the truth. When science changes its opinion, it didn't lie to you.”

“Life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.”