politicians (the prince) should not necessarily subscribe to common good moral values but rather should have the skillset to bring glory to the state,

on whether the prince should be rather be loved than feared, Machiavelli said that the prince should err on the side of inspiring terror, since this is what keeps people in check,

mentioned the incompatibility between good governance and being a good Christian,

sees a statesman as having to subscribe to the Greek notion of virtue that pertains more to valor than "good morals" and ethical principles; goes up to the point of defining "criminal virtue" as the ability to be cruel in the name of the state,