Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought… but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.

A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on the contrary, it is seen that when princes have thought more of ease than of arms they have lost their states. And the first cause of your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to acquire a state is to be master of the art.

Read over and over again the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus, Turenne, Eugene and Frederic. ... This is the only way to become a great general and master the secrets of the art of war.

When orders are consistently trustworthy and observed, the relationship of a commander with his troops is satisfactory.

If you want to learn the craft of war, ponder over this book. The teacher is as a needle, the disciple is as thread. You must practice constantly.

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head.

Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous.

In this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.

At the head of an army, nothing is more becoming than simplicity.

No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

It is imperative to master the principles of the art of war and learn to be unmoved in mind even in the heat of the battle.

These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post.

It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order.

War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.

To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

Nothing so comforts the military mind as the maxim of a great but dead general.

The whole art of war consists of guessing at what is on the other side of the hill.

Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship.

You have to give the soldiers, the Army, a clear vision.

Strategy is the most important department of the art of war, and strategical skill is the highest and rarest function of military genius.

In war, the general alone can judge of certain arrangements. It depends on him alone to conquer difficulties by his own superior talents and resolution.

the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.