The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and… — Niccolo Machiavelli

The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws.

In the original Italian

I principali fondamenti che abbino tutti gli Stati, così nuovi come vecchi o misti, sono le buone leggi e le buone armi; e perchè non possono essere buone leggi dove non sono buone armi, e, dove sono buone armi conviene che siano buone leggi.

The Prince · 1532
★ 4.7
Provenance
Current citation
Machiavelli, Nicolò. The Prince, translated by Peter Bondanella. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Original citation
Machiavelli, Niccolò. Il Principe [The Prince]. Rome: Antonio Blado d'Asola, 1532.

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