Niccolò Machiavelli：The Prince, Excerpt 58

Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232
Locator：Excerpt 58 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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