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I don't think this book deserves the reputation it has. Too often it's viewed as the handbook for egoists to seize power when, considering the state of Florentine (and the Italian peninsula as a whole) politics at the time, it's clearly a rallying cry for the sentiment of humanism and early Italian nationalism. Not once does the book denounce virtue save for when it results in the ruin of impotent men! It is first and foremost a text that encourages competence and promotes self-reliance, practical benevolence, artfulness, etc; all of these qualities were sorely lacking in the counts and princes at the time, who bent to the will of determinism and the interests of their coffers. To view the work as explicitly opportunistic is to misunderstand it fundamentally. Let us not forget that Machiavelli was tortured for weeks due to his republican leanings. To him, it must have been obvious that a moral man could not expect the victory of good simply by being loved.
challenging
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Translation is crucial for this one. The version by Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa from the 1970s, included in The Portable Machiavelli is one of the best I have encountered, and I encourage interested readers to seek that one out.
The lions and foxes passage is one of the crucial moments in European (and ultimately global) thought.
Machiavelli continues to be relevant. I had forgotten how deeply he read history, though his Discourses emerging from marginal notes on Livy should point the way. His examples of French, Italian, and Roman mercenary armies and his examination of new states and failures of leadership remain fascinating.
The lions and foxes passage is one of the crucial moments in European (and ultimately global) thought.
Machiavelli continues to be relevant. I had forgotten how deeply he read history, though his Discourses emerging from marginal notes on Livy should point the way. His examples of French, Italian, and Roman mercenary armies and his examination of new states and failures of leadership remain fascinating.
I’m not sure why I read this. It feels like a companion piece to The Art of War. This is effectively a manual for tyrant wannabes on how to manipulate, threaten and murder your way to power, and how to take advantage of others (through manipulation, threats and violence) to maintain power once it is achieved. It applies to probably fewer than 25 dictators in the world today, and overall was just dreadful.
though I find it more useful as personal philosophy, Machiavelli's attitude towards the conduct of law is a pretty pragmatic guide to relations domestic and international, though I have no intention of reading Hobbes, I took away one star because of his attitude towards governing without contractual agreements, such as what the afformentioned Hobbes and Rousseau were about. Though sometimes it pertains to notice when dealing with your boss, your children (if you have any) or anyone who challenges your authority or rights, that tough love is the best kind of love.
informative
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informative
tense
გამოცდის წინა დღეს წავიკითხე და ისე აგრესიულად ვარ განწყობილი, არ მგონია ბოლომდე ობიექტური ვიყო. თუმცა მაკიაველის სახელმწიფო მართვის მოდელები, ტირანიის აშკარა გამოვლინებებია და ნაწარმოებში აღწერილი ნიშნების, შემდეგ პრაქტიკაში გამოყენებამ საშინელი შედეგები მოიტანა, ალბათ მაკიაველის გარეშეც არ იქნებოდა რადიკალურად განსხვავებული ისტორიული სურათი, თუმცა მაკიაველი მაინც კარგი გზამკვლევია ტირანი ხელისუფალისთვის ხალხის „დასაბოლებლად“
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
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An essential for any student of Western political thought. Machiavelli lived in dynamic and intense institutions within a dynamic and intense region in a dynamic and intense time. The Italians are often neglected for their philosophical developments and even their literature is reduced often to merely Dante. Any reader of The Prince should take time to read Machiavelli's fictional works, they are The Prince and more in excellent motion.