Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
A cynical view on how history might remember someone who is associated with realpolitik or deceit.
In plain terms
If you are known for cynicism, your name might become a synonym for distrust.
What can you take from it?
Your reputation lasts beyond your life.

Where it applies

  • political commentary
  • historical analysis
  • self-reflection

Putting it to work

  • consider legacy
  • act with integrity

Questions to consider

  • How do you want to be remembered?
  • Is cynicism serving you?

Another view

Historical memory is often more nuanced than single words suggest.

More from Niccolo Machiavelli

  1. We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do . For it is not possible to join serpentine wisdom with t…

    Permalink to quote #46
  2. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

    Permalink to quote #45
  3. War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.

    Permalink to quote #44

Related quotes

  1. This house will bear witness to his piety; this town, his birthplace, to his munificence; history to his patriotism; posterity to the depth and compass of his …

    John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams quote #4
  2. I know not whether, in the eyes of the world, a brilliant death is not preferred to an obscure life of rectitude. Most men are remembered as they died, and not…

    Davy CrockettDavy Crockett quote #7
  3. I have no regret for any public act of my life, and history will vindicate my memory.

    James BuchananJames Buchanan quote #11