Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.

The sentiment fits Machiavelli’s broader realism about power: the greatest threats to ordinary people often come not from private individuals but from organized authority with coercive capacity (law, armies, taxation, punishment). Read this way, the line warns that rulers and state institutions can become uniquely dangerous because they can legitimize violence and compel obedience on a scale unavailable to other “elements within society.” It also echoes a Machiavellian suspicion that political actors routinely prioritize stability and self-preservation over moral restraint, making government a potential source of systemic harm when unchecked.