Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes

I'm not a fan almost anywhere of announcing to the enemy of what I'm going to do.

Oh, I can keep many secrets, so I would be a phenomenal secret agent. I love secrets.

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night.

To plan secretly, to move surreptitiously, to foil the enemy's intentions and balk his schemes, so that at last the day may be won without shedding a drop of blood.

He that has a secret should not only hide it, but hide that he has it to hide.

I don't believe in deadlines, I don't believe in telling the enemy when we're going to withdraw.

Just like a script, you need to keep a business plan to yourself.

Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.

I'd be a terrible secret agent. I can't keep a secret and I'm not sneaky.

Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one.

You cannot tell the enemy you're going to leave and expect the enemy to not - and expect to succeed. I mean, that's just a fundamental of warfare.

When people ask me if I have worked for the C.I.A., I often answer: what good to you is my answer? Because if I did, I might not say so.

If my friends don’t know what my plans are, then my enemies will not.

[Advising a member of his cabinet on handling the cabinet: Never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

If you are completely transparent, then you have no intelligence service.

Secrecy is one of the shadier sides of private and public life.

As president, I'm not supposed to play games or show my hand, because there's a lot going on behind the scenes that you don't see or hear and don't need to know.

I could have been a top notch spy. People confess the most amazing secrets to me, even when I am not fishing for those nuggets. I must look trustworthy because I sit there with a video camera or a tape recorder while the stories pour out.

I try to keep everything under wraps. Everything I can do to make sure people don't know what they're getting themselves into, I will do it.

Secrecy is the soul of all great designs. Perhaps more has been effected by concealing our own intentions than by discovering those of our enemy.

The life of spies is to know, not bee known.

Whenever they asked me the question about what are you going to do about ISIS, I say, you know, I have a real chance of winning. I don't really want to tell you. I have very strong ideas and I'll be dealing with the people in this room and other folks that are, you know, very good at this, but the last thing you want to do is give notice to the enemy.

It's like guerrilla warfare. If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly, with stealth, under cover of night. You've got two choices: You can wear cammies and shimmy along on your belly, or you can put on a red coat and stand up for everyone to see. It comes down to whether you want to be the British army in the Revolutionary War or the Viet Cong. History tells us which tactic was more effective.

The necessity of procuring good Intelligence is apparent & need not be further urged-All that remains for me to add, is, that you keep the whole matter as secret as possible. For upon Secrecy, Success depends in most Enterprizes of the kind, and for want of it, they are generally defeated, however well planned & promising a favourable issue.