How Perilous It Is To Free A

(a Ruler) Cannot And Should Not Keep His Word When To Do So Would Go Against His Interests Or When The Reason He Pledged It No Longer Holds.

There Is Nothing More Important Than Appearing To Be Religious.

Rome Remained Free For Four Hundred Years And Sparta Eight Hundred, Although Their Citizens Were Armed All That Time; But Many Other States That Have Been Disarmed Have Lost Their Liberties In Less Than Forty Years.

It Is Just As Difficult And Dangerous To Try To Free A People That Wants To Remain Servile As It Is To Enslave A People That Wants To Remain Free.

It Is A Foolish Prince Who Entrusts The Safety Of His Lands To Hired Men.