The Prince.
" . . . [T]he conqueror must arrange to commit all his
cruelties at once . . . "1a
" . . . [H]ow we live is so
far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons
what is done for what ought to be done, will rather learn to bring
about his own ruin than his preservation."1b
" . . . [A prince] must
abstain from taking the property of others, for men forget
more easily the death of their father than the loss of their
patrimony."1c
RAND
" . . . [I]t is necessary . . . to be a great feigner and
dissembler; and men are so simple and so ready to obey present
necessities, that one who deceives will always find those who
allow themselves to be deceived."1d
HEGEL
HUME
" . . . [I]n the actions of
men . . . from which there is no appeal, the end justifies
the means."1e
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The Discourses.
"
. . . [T]hough all things are objects of desire, not all things
are attainable; so that desire always exceeds the power of
attainment, with the result that men are ill content with what
they possess . . . "2a
" . . .
[H]ow
easily men are corrupted . . . however good they may be and
however well taught."2b
"Money . . . not only
affords you no protection, but makes you the sooner fall a
prey. . . it is not gold, as is acclaimed by common opinion,
that constitutes the sinews of war, but good soldiers; for gold
does not find good soldiers, but good soldiers are quite
capable of finding gold."2c
" . . . [A] prince who wishes
to do great things must learn to practice deceit."2d
" . . . [N]othing is more
essential or more useful to a general than to discover what the
enemy has decided and is planning to do."2e
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1 Niccolò Machiavelli
(1469-1527). The
Prince (1531). Translated by Luigi Ricci. Revised by E.R.P. Vincent. Introduction by
Christian Gauss. New York, NY: The New American Library of World Literature, Inc.,
1952. (Reprint of a hardcover edition published by Oxford University Press, Inc.)
a Of Those Who Have Attained the Position of Prince by
Villainy, at 62..
b Of the Things for Which Men, and Especially Princes,
Are Praised or Blamed, at 84.
c Of Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether It Is Better to
Be Loved or Feared, at 90.
d In What Way Princes Must Keep Faith, at 93.
e Ibid., at 94.
2 Niccolò Machiavelli. The
Discourses. Edited with an Introduction by Bernard
Crick using the translation of Leslie J. Walker, S.J. Revisions by
Brian Richardson. Bernard Crick, 1970. London, UK: Penguin Books
Ltd. (Penguin Classics.)
a Book One, Discourse 37, at 200.
b Book One, Discourse 42, at 217.
c Book Two, Discourse 10, at 300 and 302.
d Book Two, Discourse 13, at 310.
e Book Three, Discourse 18, at 455.
MK-BOOKS-MACHIAVELLI
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