Machiavelli — "It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, an…"
It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Machiavelli
"It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles."
"Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number of men who are not good."
"Nature creates few men brave, industry makes many."
"There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others."
"Therefore a prince, not being able to use this virtue of liberality in such a way that it may be recognized, except to his cost, a wise prince ought not to mind the reputation of being a miser."
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.