Machiavelli — "Politics have no relation to morals."
Politics have no relation to morals.
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More from Machiavelli
"There are three kinds of intellects: one understands things by itself, the other discerns what others understand, and the third understands neither by itself nor through others. The first is excellent…"
"Men are always averse to new things, and it is very hard to persuade them to change."
"Hatred is acquired as much by good works as by evil."
"One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived."
"Wise men say, and not without reason, that whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times."
About Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Florentine diplomat and political theorist whose The Prince (written 1513) became the founding text of political realism and gave us the adjective 'Machiavellian.' Closely associated with Francesco Guicciardini (fellow Florentine political analyst and historian). For an intellectual contrast, see Erasmus of Rotterdam, Dutch humanist and The Education of a Christian Prince author (1516) — Erasmus's princely-instruction manual was published three years after Machiavelli's, for the same European audience, and is the explicit Christian-virtue alternative to Machiavellian power-realism. The cleanest 'realism vs idealism' founding pairing in modern political theory.