Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.

Let them hate as long as they fear.

You can't be loved for long if you're not feared.

Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

You know, if you think about it, the most powerful people on this earth probably never raise their voices - they just say it and people hop to, because they have that power.

Xavier McDaniel made me respect him. I thought I could do anything I wanted to. He grabbed me one time and almost choked me out. He said, 'You're going to do this. You're going to go get coffee. You're going to go get doughnuts.' It's a game of respect.

It is a great matter to be in authority over others; for authority, if it be rightly used, will make you feared beyond your actual resources.

Authority is not a quality one person 'has', in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him.

The most important thing about power is to make sure you don't have to use it.

Power never turns power down, ever, unless institutionally demanded.

You have no power at all if you do not exercise constant power.

Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.

The power to command has never meant the power to remain mysterious.

The man whose authority is recent is always stern.

The time will come, without my seeking it, that my words will almost serve as law. If I ask a certain thing, it will be done. If I don't want something, it will not be done.

My words must be powerful to make people so afraid of them. It's rather nice to feel I have power.

It is one thing to persuade, another to command …

If you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.

When other teams fear you, that's a big difference.

People with real power never fear of losing it. People with control think of little else.

We would rather be feared than respected.

My relationship to power and authority is that I'm all for it.

The only thing power respects, is power.

Power is not something that can be assumed or discarded at will like underwear.

I am a collaborator with everyone who agrees that I need to be in control. I happily collaborate with my loyalists.