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| Which Classic Book Are You? | |
| Book: | Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. |
| Synopsis: | The Prince's essential contribution to modern political thought lies in Machiavelli's assertion of the then revolutionary idea that theological and moral imperatives have no place in the political arena. 'It must be understood,' Machiavelli avers, 'that a prince ... cannot observe all of those virtues for which men are reputed good, because it is often necessary to act against mercy, against faith, against humanity, against frankness, against religion, in order to preserve the state.' With just a little imagination, readers can discern parallels between a 16th-century principality and a 20th-century presidency. |
| Excerpt: | Those who wish to win favor with a prince customarily offer him those things which they hold most precious or which they see him most delight in. Very often, therefore, we see princes presented with horses, weapons, cloth of gold, precious gems, or similar ornaments worthy of their greatness. Wishing, then, to present myself to Your Highness with some mark of my duty to you, I have been unable to find anything I possess that I hold so dear or esteem so highly as my knowledge of the actions of great men, learned from long experience in modern affairs and from constant reading of ancient ones. Having long examined and refected upon tese matters with great diligence and having now set them down in a small volume, I send it to Your Highness. |
| Amazon: | The Prince |
| Which Classic Book Are You? |
I actually quite like The Prince- it's one of the books I regularly come back to, along with Hagakure, The Artof War and the Shogun Scrolls.
