Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.

I always admired virtue - but I could never imitate it.

Character is that quality of mind which makes truth-telling instinctive rather than strange.

Nothing in our times has become so unattractive as virtue.

To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.

Virtue is a positive quality developed by taking a firm stand for the right in temptation, or by the suffering endured in consequence of wrongdoing.

The greatest want of the world is the want of men - men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.

To me, integrity means always doing what is right and good, regardless of the immediate consequences. It means being righteous from the very depth of our soul, not only in our actions but, more importantly, in our thoughts and in our hearts.

The only way to survive among the evil and corrupt is to be even more wicked and more corrupt than they are!

Men of most renowned virtue have by transgressing most truly kept the law.

A good man with a good conscience doesn't walk so fast.

A man should be upright, not be kept upright.

A man has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.

The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil.

The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts.

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.

Evil is the moment when I lack the strength to be true to the Good that compels me.

Even in decline, a virtuous man increases the beauty of his behavior. A burning stick, though turned to the ground, has its flame drawn upwards.

If a man suffers ill, let it be without shame; for this is the only profit when we are dead. You will never say a good word about deeds that are evil and disgraceful.

True freedom is where an individual's thoughts and actions are in alignment with that which is true, correct, and of honor - no matter the personal price.

The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves to it.

Moral courage is higher and a rarer virtue than physical courage.

Virtue alone has majesty in death.

Virtue is insufficient temptation.

Virtue could see to do what Virtue would by her own radiant light, though sun and moon where in the flat sea sunk.