Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

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

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

The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes.

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

It is true that we are ignorant of the art of war. Yet we know when it is wise or prudent to declare it.

War's not black and white; it's gray. If you don't fight in the gray area, you're going to lose.

If not in the interests of the state, do not act. If you cannot succeed, do not use troops. If you are not in danger, do not fight.

Americans tended to think of war as something that had to be done from time to time, for a particular purpose or goal. They fought not for the sake of fighting but for the sake of winning.

In peace, a wise man makes preparations for war.

Occasional war is one of the rigorous instruments in the hands of Providence to give tone to the character of nations.

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

In the first place, most princes apply themselves to the arts of war, in which I have neither ability nor interest, instead of to the good arts of peace. They are generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms by hook or by crook than on governing well those that they already have.

If someone puts up the argument that King Louis gave the Romagna to Pope Alexander, and the kingdom of Naples to Spain, in order to avoid a war, I would answer as I did before: that you should never let things get out of hand in order to avoid war. You don't avoid such a war, you merely postpone it, to your own disadvantage.

I wish I wasn't the war president. Who in the heck wants to be a war president? I don't.

Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.

War: A by-product of the arts of peace.

Anyone can battle for pride, power, vanity, greed, or hate, but war should always be approached with an equal measure of wisdom and strength. It's not just enough to know when to fight, but to know when to lay down the sword and negotiate. Not everything in the world is worth fighting for.

To stop war by the perfection of engines of destruction alone, might consume centuries and centuries. Other means must be employed to hasten the end.

It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

Most wars are not won in a single battle.

I think that if you don't think we're in a war that you can't win the war.

If the art of war were nothing but the art of avoiding risks, glory would become the prey of mediocre minds.... I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest.

I am confirmed in my belief that war is utter destructive violent chaos. There is no "art," no "order(s)," no "just war." No matter what the ideologies, wars are the same.

Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.