Given The Prince is satire... neither?maxzero said:So writing a 10 page paper has made me think about this quote a lot. According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared but not to a point of hatred. What do you think?
You read that on Cracked? Just wondering, that is where most people heard that.Dom Kebbell said:Given The Prince is satire... neither?maxzero said:So writing a 10 page paper has made me think about this quote a lot. According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared but not to a point of hatred. What do you think?
I just read the Prince recently, however, I'd take Machiavelli's writings with a grain of salt, as he may not have actually been completely serious when he was writing the thing. Here's the thing:maxzero said:So writing a 10 page paper has made me think about this quote a lot. According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared but not to a point of hatred. What do you think?
I think I agree, as the book almost takes on a comedic tone if you think of Machiavelli taking down to it's intended reader and every word infused with sarcasm.J.J.Rousseau said:Machiavelli was a proper man and a good citizen; but, being attached to the court of the Medici, he could not help veiling his love of liberty in the midst of his country's oppression. The choice of his detestable hero, Caesar Borgia, clearly enough shows his hidden aim; and the contradiction between the teaching of the Prince and that of the Discourses on Livy and the History of Florence shows that this profound political thinker has so far been studied only by superficial or corrupt readers. The Court of Rome sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; for it is that Court it most clearly portrays.
Ironically yes, shortly after reading a translation by the same person that does the very good Umberto Eco translations and coming away thinking "Why did some of that sound a bit like he was taking the piss?" as a conformation it was a relief.Shycte said:You read that on Cracked? Just wondering, that is where most people heard that.Dom Kebbell said:Given The Prince is satire... neither?maxzero said:So writing a 10 page paper has made me think about this quote a lot. According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared but not to a point of hatred. What do you think?
But yeah, it's satire.
Loved I guess?
Then again, one has to be both in the end.
Depends who, what and, when you are talking about.maxzero said:So writing a 10 page paper has made me think about this quote a lot. According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared but not to a point of hatred. What do you think?
Well, keep in mind Machiavelli was being sarcastic when he wrote it:maxzero said:So writing a 10 page paper has made me think about this quote a lot. According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared but not to a point of hatred. What do you think?