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Niccolò Machiavelli Quotes

1469–1527 Italy

Niccolò Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian political philosopher, historian, musician, poet, and romantic comedic playwright. Machiavelli was also a key figure in realist political theory, crucial to European statecraft during the Renaissance.

Also known as: Machiavelli, Machiavelli, Niccolo, Machiavelli, Niccolò, Niccolo Machiavelli, Niccoló Machiavelli, Nicolo Machiavelli

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When Machiavelli came to the end of his life, he had a vision shortly before giving up the ghost. He saw a small company of poor scoundrels, all in rags, ill-favoured, famished, and, in short, in as bad plight as possible. He was told that these were the inhabitants of paradise, of whom it is written, Beati pauperes, quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum. ["Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."] After they withdrew, innumerable serious and majestic personages appeared, who seemed to be sitting in a senate-house and dealing with the most important affairs of state. Among them he saw Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Plutarch, Tacitus, and others of similar character; but he was told at the same time that those venerable personages, notwithstanding their appearance, were the damned, and the souls rejected by heaven, for Sapientia huius saeculi, inimica est Dei. ["The wisdom of this world is the enemy of God."] After this, he was asked to which of the groups he would choose to belong; he answered that he would much rather be in Hell with those great geniuses, to converse with them about affairs of state, than be condemned to the company of the verminous scoundrels that he had first been shown.

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Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Niccolò Machiavelli (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.