The Prince in particular is full of advice that runs counter to nice things we wish to believe about ourselves. That is where the phrase "Machievellian" comes from.

For example who among us wants to believe that once we come to power we should distrust those who got us there, and look for our best allies among those who had opposed us? Yet again and again in actual organizations those who think they are owed will try to take advantage of the situation, while those who have reason to fear that they never can be trusted will overcompensate for that.