Sweetheart, now they will cut off thy father’s head. Mark, child, what I say: they will cut off my head, and perhaps make thee a king. But mark what I say: you must not be a king, so long as your brothers Charles and James do live. Charles I, to son Henry Stuart
However strong your armies may be, you will always need the favour of the inhabitants to the possession of a province. Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince chIII
And so it is with State affairs. For the distempers of a State being discovered while yet inchoate, which can only be done by a sagacious ruler, may easily be dealt with; but when, from not being observed, they are suffered to grow until they are obvious to every one, there is no longer any remedy. ibid.
All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer. ibid.
A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent. ibid. chVI
For, besides what has been said, it should be borne in mind that the temper of the multitude is fickle, and that while it is easy to persuade them of a thing, it is hard to fix them in that persuasion. Wherefore, matters should be so ordered that when men no longer believe of their own accord, they may be compelled to believe by force. ibid.
And let it be noted that there is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in its success, than to set up as a leader in the introduction of changes. For he who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new. This lukewarm temper arises partly from the fear of adversaries who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who will never admit the merit of anything new, until they have seen it proved by the event. ibid.
Those cruelties we may say are well employed, if it be permitted to speak well of things evil, which are done once for all under the necessity of self-preservation, and are not afterwards persisted in, but so far as possible modified to the advantage of the governed. Ill-employed cruelties, on the other hand, are those which from small beginnings increase rather than diminish with time. They who follow the first of these methods, may, by the grace of God and man, find, as did Agathocles, that their condition is not desperate; but by no possibility can the others maintain themselves. ibid.
It is essential therefore for a prince to have learnt how to be other than good and to use, or not to use, his goodness as necessity requires. ibid. chXV
A controversy has arisen about this: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or vice versa. My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved. ibid. XVI
A Prince, therefore, if he is enabled thereby to forbear from plundering his subjects, to defend himself, to escape poverty and contempt, and the necessity of becoming rapacious, ought to care little though he incur the reproach of miserliness, for this is one of those vices which enable him to reign. ibid. XVII
And when he is obliged to take the life of any one, to do so when there is a proper justification and manifest reason for it; but above all he must abstain from taking the property of others, for men forget more easily the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. ibid.
For of men it may generally be affirmed, that they are thankless, fickle, false studious to avoid danger, greedy of gain, devoted to you while you are able to confer benefits upon them, and ready, as I said before, while danger is distant, to shed their blood, and sacrifice their property, their lives, and their children for you; but in the hour of need they turn against you. ibid.
Be it known, then, that there are two ways of contending, one in accordance with the laws, the other by force; the first of which is proper to men, the second to beasts. But since the first method is often ineffectual, it becomes necessary to resort to the second. ibid. chXVII
And here it is to be noted that hatred is incurred as well on account of good actions as of bad; or which reason, as I have already said, a Prince who would maintain his authority is often compelled to be other than good. For when the class, be it the people, the soldiers, or the nobles, on whom you judge it necessary to rely for your support, is corrupt, you must needs adapt yourself to its humours, and satisfy these, in which case virtuous conduct will only prejudice you. ibid. XIX
For a Prince is exposed to two dangers, from within in respect of his subjects, from without in respect of foreign powers. Against the latter he will defend himself with good arms and good allies, and if he have good arms he will always have good allies. ibid.
When I need a little advice about Saddam Hussein, I turn to country music. George H W Bush
Think on. Don’t trust any bugger. Ever. Keep yourself to yourself. Work hard. Never let up. Don’t fall for girls. Keep your bankbook close to your heart. Eric and Ernie 2011 starring Bryan Dick & Victoria Wood & Reece Shearsmith & Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) & Emer Kenny & Daniel Rigby & Hannah Steele & Josh Benson & Thomas Atkinson & Thomas Aldersley & Ted Robbins et al, director Jonny Campbell, BBC, dad to Ernie
Never descend to the ways of those above you. George Mallaby
No vice is so bad as advice. Marie Dressler
To be silent the whole day long, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself. Henry Miller
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have laboured hard for. Socrates
Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties. Aesop
As you grow up, always tell the truth, do no harm to others, and don’t think you are the most important being on earth. Rich or poor, you then can look anyone in the eye and say, ‘I’m probably no better than you, but I’m certainly your equal.’ Harper Lee
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. Vincent van Gogh
Invest yourself in everything you do. There’s fun in being serious. Wynton Marsalis
Above all, try always to be able to feel deeply any injustice committed against any person in any part of the world. It is the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary. Che Guevara, letter to children written @1965, to be read in event of death
Grow up as good revolutionaries. Che Guevara
Some advice: keep the flame of curiosity and wonderment alive, even when studying for boring exams. That is the well from which we scientists draw our nourishment and energy. And also, learn the math. Math is the language of nature, so we have to learn this language. Michio Kaku
You know how advice is. You only want it if it agrees with what you wanted to do anyway. John Steinbeck
Don’t follow any advice, no matter how good, until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think in your mind that the counsel is wise. Joan Rivers
Perhaps one of the only positive pieces of advice that I was ever given was that supplied by an old courtier who observed, Only two rules really count – never miss an opportunity to relieve yourself; never miss a chance to sit down and rest your feet. Edward VIII
Listen to advice, but follow your heart. Conway Twitty
I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes. Edna St Vincent Millay
Be yourself is about the worst advice you can give to some people. J B Priestley
Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that’s no reason not to give it. Agatha Christie
No enemy is worse than bad advice. Sophocles
The worst men often give the best advice. Francis Bacon
When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. Saul Bellow
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery. Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people. Jim Rohn
Be silent yourself. That will induce silence in others. Do not fall into the habit of shouting, talking long and loud. Reduce contacts to a minimum. Carry with you an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, wherever you happen to be. The less you talk, the more will become your mental power. With the increase in your mental capacity, there will be increase in your power of discrimination too. Consequently, you will give up individual discrimination. Because of this, you will begin to consider the good of the world at large rather than your own individual welfare. You must cultivate such broad feeling from this young age itself. Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Ill customs and bad advice are seldom forgotten. Benjamin Franklin