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Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that,

if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure

very well being feared whilst he is not hated, which will always

be as long as he abstains from the property of his citizens and

subjects and from their women. But when it is necessary for him

to proceed against the life of someone, he must do it on proper

justification and for manifest cause, but above all things he

must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more

quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their

patrimony. Besides, pretexts for taking away the property are

never wanting; for he who has once begun to live by robbery will

always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to others; but

reasons for taking life, on the contrary, are more difficult to

find and sooner lapse.