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Niccolo Machiavelli
 Niccolo
Machiavelli was one of the most influential writers of the Renaissance.
He believed Italy could not be united unless its leader was ruthless.
In 1513, he wrote The Prince, where he advised rulers to be kind
only of it suited their purposes. Otherwise, he warned, it is better to
be feared than loved.
“You must know there are two methods of fighting,
the one by law, the other by force; the first method is of men, the
second of beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient,
one must have recourse to the second. Therefore it is necessary for
a prince to understand how to use the methods of the beast and the man
. . . A prince . . . ought to choose the fox and the lion; because the
lion cannot defend himself against traps and the fox cannot defend himself
against wolves. Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the
traps and a lion to terrify the wolves. Those who rely simply on the
lion do not understand this.”
-- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
(1513)
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