“Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be--and are ruined.”

“It is in reference to Pope Julius that Machiavelli moralizes on the resemblance between Fortune and women, and concludes that it is the bold rather than the cautious man that will win and hold them both.”

“The wish to acquire is in truth very natural and common, and men always do so when they can, and for this they will be praised not blamed; but when they cannot do so, yet wish to do so by any means, then there is folly and blame.”

“Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be--and are ruined.”