All quotes

A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.

Therefore it must be inferred that good counsels, whencesoever they come, are born of the wisdom of the prince, and not the wisdom of the prince from good counsels.

Therefore, if he who rules a principality cannot recognize evils until they are upon him, he is not truly wise; and this insight is given to few.

Presidential powers are not fixed but fluctuate, depending upon their disjunction or conjunction with those of Congress.

Difficult and embarrassing questions meet us at the threshold of this subject.

Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him?

I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make

When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground.

It is men who wait to be selected, and not those who seek, from whom we may always expect the most efficient service.

If I felt that there is to be sole responsibility in the Executive for the America of tomorrow I should shrink from the burden.

The power of one person — Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala — one person can change the world by giving people hope.

Anyone who has taken the oath I have just taken must feel a heavy weight of responsibility.

Surely it is hardly fitting that the ruler should be baser than the ruled.

With such aids and an honest purpose to do whatever is right, I hope to execute diligently, impartially, and for the best interests of the country the manifold duties devolved upon me.

our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint

It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.

For he that thinks absolute power purifies men's blood, and corrects the baseness of human nature, need read but the history of this, or any other age, to be convinced of the contrary.

Nevertheless, he who has relied least on fortune is established the strongest.

princes ought to leave affairs of reproach to the management of others, and keep those of grace in their own hands

Numa's virtue made him so celebrated that he was judged worthy to be king, Lykurgus' made him so great that he did not care to be king.

Only it seems to me a grievous error in a ruler to quarrel with all his subjects at once.