Never was anything great achieved without danger.

The aphorism links “greatness” with exposure to risk: extraordinary political, military, or creative achievements require stepping beyond safety, convention, and guaranteed outcomes. In a Machiavellian frame, it also implies that prudence is not the same as timidity—effective action often demands accepting peril, uncertainty, and the possibility of failure. The line can be read as both descriptive (history shows major change is hazardous) and prescriptive (leaders should not expect to accomplish ambitious ends without courting danger). It resonates with Renaissance realpolitik, where fortune, conflict, and bold initiative were seen as inseparable from lasting accomplishment.