Kristen Hanley Cardozo’s previous work for the Toast can be found here.
Inspirational Quotes from Acclaimed Relationship Expert Niccolò Machiavelli, PhD
(From his popular self-help book Men are from Florence, Women are from Milan)
“Men are motivated when they feel needed, while women are motivated when they feel they have done an injury to a man so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.”
“When a man can listen to a woman’s feelings without getting angry and frustrated, he gives her a wonderful gift. He helps her to see that men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that plenty are ready to be deceived by a deceitful woman.”
“Not to be needed is a slow death for a man. This can be used against him.”
“When negative feelings are suppressed, positive feelings become suppressed as well, and love dies. Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far better to be feared than loved.”
“Just as a man is fulfilled through working out the intricate details of solving a problem, a woman is fulfilled through calculating risk and acting decisively.”
“Remember, if a man needs to pull away like a rubber band, when he returns he will be back with a lot more love. Then he can listen. This is the best time to initiate war, the only art befitting one who commands.”
“The painful memories of being rejected begin to surface when we are faced with trusting and accepting our partner’s love. Do not trust or accept your partner’s love.”
“If we are to feel the positive feelings of love, happiness, trust, and gratitude, we periodically also have to inflict anger, sadness, fear, and sorrow.”
“Love is a bond of obligation that men — in general ungrateful, disloyal, insincere and deceitful, timid of danger and avid of profit — break whenever it suits them to do so; but fear holds them fast by a dread of punishment that never passes. Get the love you deserve and the fear you need.”
“Life is filled with rhythms — day and night, hot and cold, summer and winter, spring and fall, cloudy and clear. Likewise in a relationship, men and women have their own rhythms and cycles. The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.”
“Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see but few can test by feeling. When she says ‘I feel like you are not even here,’ he says ‘What do you mean I’m not here? Of course I am here. Don’t you see my body?’”
“It is not enough to merely be authentic in sharing yourself; to succeed in dating you need to consider how you will be interpreted as well. She who overcomes her enemies by stratagem is as much to be praised as she who overcomes them by force.”
“Men need to remember that women talk about problems to get close and not necessarily to get solutions. There is no sure way of getting close other than by destroying.”
Tags: advice, books, humor, Kristen Hanley Cardozo, pinspiration, relationships
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I like this very much. It speaks to my inner war goddess.
“Not to be needed is a slow death for a man. This can be used against him.”
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Reader, I married her. *Swoon*
D’awww lucky man 🙂
it is far better to be feared than loved
I live my life by this. Thanks, Nicolo, buddy!
I would totally buy Men are from Florence, Women are from Milan.
I would too but I can’t help thinking that he really missed an opportunity by not calling it “Men are from Milan, Women are from Venice”.
I see what you did there.
I’d kick myself, but I can’t even claim ownership of the current title, as my friend Kacper came up with it in conversation and then I became obsessed with making up quotes for it. “Other People are More Clever than I Am” will be the title of my next essay.
The first time I typed that comment, I did type that, as I thought that was what it was called!
This reads like my ex’s livejournal after we broke up.
Which casts new light on what happened between Machiavelli and Lorenzo de’Medici.
I am honestly going to take all of this advice.
I need some inspirational posters featuring some of these to hang on the walls of my office.
Preferably spoken by some kind of cartoon cat on a branch.
(furious applause)
I'd kick myself, but I can't even claim ownership of the current title, as my friend Kacper came up with it in conversation and then I became obsessed with making up quotes for it. "Other People are More Clever than I Am" will be the title of my next essay.
This is life changing – I’ve been doing it all wrong!
I was just about to reread Il Principe after bingewatching both Borgia series on Netflix. Now even more motivation to do so!
This is great!
Yes I agree this is great!
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.