It is a great mistake to make absolute, categorical, “by the card” pronouncements concerning the things of this world. Almost all of them have some exceptional qualities and distinctions due to differences in their circumstances, making it impossible to refer everything to the same standard.
Such exceptional qualities and distinctions cannot be found in books, but must be taught by discretion. (6)
It is very misleading to judge through examples—for unless they are identical in every way, their use is limited, considering how even small variations in circumstances can give rise to widest differences in effects.
And discerning these minute variations requires a just/good and clear/perspicacious eye. (117)
Whatever has occurred in the past or is occurring in the present will repeat itself in the future. However, the names and surfaces of things will have changed, and unless we have a discerning eye, we will not recognize them and act or judge accordingly. (76)
The same or similar proverbs, though differently expressed, are found among all nations—and this is because they spring from experience or observations of things, which is everywhere the same or similar. (12)
…Faith breeds obstinacy—for faith is no more than believing firmly and almost with certainty things that are not in themselves reasonable; or if reasonable, believing them more unreservedly than reason warrants.
Therefore, he who has faith becomes stubborn in his belief, and goes on his way resolute and intrepid, contemning/disdaining/disregarding/deprecating difficulties and dangers, and ready to suffer every extremity.
And so it happens that, as the things of this world are subject to infinite changes and chances, unlooked for help may come in many ways over time to one who has obstinately persevered. And when this perseverance is the result of faith, it may well be said that faith can accomplish great things.
We currently have a great example of such stubbornness of the Florentines—a group who, contrary to all human reason, prepared themselves to await the joint attack of Pope and Emperor, with no hope of receiving help for anyone else, with disunity among themselves, and with difficulties facing them on every side. For seven months, they have managed to fight off the assaults of armies, even though it seemed impossible for them to do so even for seven days.
In fact, they have brought things to such a point that if they were to win now, no one would be surprised, whereas earlier, everyone assumed they would lose.
And this stubbornness of theirs is mainly due to the belief that—as Friar Girolamo of Ferrara told them in his sermons—they cannot be destroyed. (1)
It is a mistake to believe that success of an enterprise depends on whether or not it is just—for every day we have proof that indicates the contrary, and shows that victory is not brought by the justice of a cause, but rather, by prudence, strength, and good fortune.
However, it is undoubtedly true that having right on one’s side can beget a firm confidence founded on the belief that God favors righteous causes. And this will make a person bold and stubborn—and such boldness and stubbornness will sometimes brings victories. (147)
If princes, when all goes well with them/suits them, make little account of their servants, and slight them or set them aside for the most minor of reasons/caprice/profit, how can they be displeased or complain if their servants—so long as they do not fail in any duty of fidelity or honor—leave them and accept other more profitable employment? (4)
If people were as discreet or grateful as they ought to be, then a master would have to confer what benefits he could on his servants on any occasion that offered him to do so.
However, experience shows—and I have personally found this to be the case with my own servants—that as soon as they are fulfilled, or as soon as the master is unable to continue the benefits he conferred at first, they will be quick to abandon him.
Thus, the master who attends to his own interest should avoid excessive generosity, and incline more to frugality than liberality, working on his servants by exciting their hopes rather than by satisfying them.
But in order for this method to succeed, he must be lavishly bountiful to one of them every once in a while. This will be enough—for people by nature are moved more by hope than by fear, and are more exited and encouraged by the example of one person they see abundantly rewarded, than they are discouraged by the sight of many who have not been well treated. (5)
Even though many people prove to be ungrateful, do not let that deter you from conferring benefits—for not only is beneficence in itself a noble and almost divine quality, it may also happen that while you practice it, you will encounter someone so grateful that he will make up for all the others’ ingratitude. (11)
There is nothing as fleeting as the memory of benefits received. Therefore, we should depend more on people circumstanced so that they cannot fail us, than on those who we have benefited. For oftentimes, the latter will either forget the benefit rendered to them, or think of them as less significant than they really were, or believe they had a right to receive them. (24)
If you wronged someone, never be duped into believing that you have sufficient ground for trusting him or confiding in him again—even in the a case of a matter that will reap him honor and profit if he conducts it well.
After all, due to certain people’s nature, their memory of a wrong can be so dominant that it will make them willing to harm themselves for revenge’s sake—either because they value this satisfaction more, or because their passion blinds them from recognizing what would really be in their best interests. (150)
…Keep your eye fixed not so much on what they [people] ought in reason to do, as on what they would be expected/likely to do based on their disposition and habits. (151)
Beyond all others, let a prince beware of those whose nature it is never to be satisfied—for no load of benefits he may heap upon them will ever secure him against them. (130)
It is indeed great to have authority.
If it is rightly used, it will make you feared even beyond your actual resources. Your subjects, not knowing how far your authority reaches, will usually choose to give way to you almost at once, rather than test if you can do what you threaten. (40)
Those governors I commend who, while they inflict few severities or punishments, yet know how to acquire and preserve a name for strictness. (341)
The discontented person will not lightly expose himself to danger, no matter how much he may be disposed to harm you. Instead, he will await opportunities that perhaps may never come.
The desperate person, on the other hand, will go about seeking and searching for these opportunities, and plunge headlong into all kinds of revolutionary hopes and schemes.
Thus, you seldom have much to fear from the discontented, but always must be on your guard against the desperate. (131)
Be careful of doing one person a pleasure if it must cause equal displeasure in another—for the person who becomes slighted will be sure to remember, and will magnify the severity of the offence since it benefits someone else; whereas the person who receives the pleasure will either forget it, or will consider the favor to be less than it was.
And thus, assuming other conditions equal, you lose in this way far more than you gain. (25)
When people observe you in a position where you are by necessity compelled to do what they want, they will hold you cheap and make little account of you. After all, people generally are influenced more by their interest or the indulgence of their spite than by what is right, what you deserve, what they owe you, or the thought that you have been brought low because of them or to help them in their distress.
Thus, you should flee this humiliation as you would flee fire.
Many people who are now exiled would have avoided such a fate if they had taken this counsel to mind—for, though a person will not be helped much by the fact that he was driven out due to his fidelity to a certain prince, he will certainly be harmed much by the fact that the prince, seeing him an outlaw, will think, “This man can do nothing,” and will thereby treat him however he wants and without much consideration. (196)
Do what you may, but you cannot prevent your subordinates plundering.
Consider my own case: though I have gone far in being caring and setting a good example, I have never been able to put a stop to the dishonesty of the governors and other officers I have had under me. (204)
How true is that ancient saying “Place reveals the man”!
Nothing so clearly reveals a person’s qualities as to give him place and power.
How many are there who speak well, yet do not know how to do! And how many are there in the streets and marketplaces who seem to be capable people, but turn out to be shadows when employed! (163)
That “place show man” was a saying much applauded by the ancients, not only because place makes it plain whether someone’s capacity is great or small, but also because power and freedom from restraint more fully displays the bent of his mind and demonstrates what his true character is. For the higher the station someone fills, the less check or hindrance has he in indulging his natural temper. (253)
In conducting my various government positions, I have noticed that when I desired to bring about a reconciliation, civil accord, etc., it was advantageous, before moving in myself, to allow both sides to discuss and debate over them at great length. In the end, out of weariness, they would both join in begging me to adjust their differences; and when appealed to like this, I could accomplish—with credit, and without impeachment of obtrusiveness—something that I would have attempted in vain at first. (43)
We should place far more store on the real and substantial than on the ceremonial.
And yet it is unbelievable just how greatly courteous manners and pleasing words influence everyone. And this because all people believe they deserve to be greatly esteemed, and thus will feel hurt if they find you withholding the deference they are sure is their due. (6)
When ambassador in Spain, I observed that whenever the Catholic King, Don Ferdinand of Aragon, a most prudent and powerful prince, was minded to engage in any new enterprise, he would contrive matters in a way so that even before his intention was published, the whole court and people would be crying out and urging him that he ought to do that thing. (77)
Here is a good way to get support for some scheme of your own contriving from one who might otherwise oppose it: commit its conduct to him, and make him, as it were, sponsor for its adoption and success. Light men especially are often won over by this device, for many of them are so tickled by vanity as to prefer the like of empty honors to the solid advantages that it should be their object to seek. (200)
If you would have people’s goodwill, take heed that, when a request is asked of you, you do not refuse it point-blank, but instead answer by generalities. For it may chance that he who makes the request shall not afterwards stand in need of your help, or that circumstances shall arise which will afford you abundant excuse for withholding it. Moreover, many people are so foolish and vulnerable to being fooled with words, that often, even without doing what you have no mind or power to do, you may contrive by a smooth answer to leave a person contented; whereas, had you denied that person, he would have been displeased with you whatever turn events had taken. (36)
It is honest and manly to never promise what you do not intend to do.
Nevertheless, since men are not ruled by reason, he to whom you deny a thing, though on good grounds, will commonly rest dissatisfied. …
Therefore, seek to amuse with answers of general encouragement, and as far as possible, avoid committing yourself by positive engagements. (309)
As long as it brings you no loss or discredit, it is a wise course, though little followed, to hide the displeasure that you feel against others. For it often happens that at some later time you have occasion to make use of these men, which you cannot well do if they consider you an enemy.
I have frequently been obliged to seek assistance from persons against whom I felt great bitterness; and they, believing the contrary, or at any rate not being aware of my dislike, have served me with the utmost alacrity. (133)
In your talk, be careful not to needlessly say what, if repeated to others, might offend them. For often at unlooked-for times and in unforeseen ways, saying such things can cause much harm to you. Be very careful, I tell you, for many people—even prudent ones—are guilty of this error, and it is difficult to refrain from it. But if the difficulty is great, so much greater is the gain to him who knows to overcome it. (7)
Should necessity or anger move you to speak sharply to anyone, at least be careful to say what will offend him only. For instance, if you would taunt someone, do not vilify his country, family, or kinsfolk. It is a great folly to incur the resentment of many, when your purpose is to only vex one person. (8)
Do not let the fear of making enemies or of causing displeasure to others keep you from doing what you ought to do. Doing one’s duty brings a person reputation, and this will help him far more than the making of a few enemies will hurt him. In this world we must either be dead outright, or must sometimes do things that give offence.
But the same tact that guides us in bestowing pleasure is also shown in knowing when and how to do what displeases—that is, these things must be done on just occasion, at fit season, with modesty, for honorable causes, and in creditable ways. (217)
At every turn, you can see the advantages you draw from having a good name and reputation. Firthermore, these advantages are almost nothing compared to those that are unseen, and that, led by the good opinion that prevails concerning you, come of their own accord, without your knowing why. (158)
Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them—for people are brought into constant contact with one another, and friends help and foes hinder at times and in places where you least expect it. (14)
From friends and kinsmen, you draw advantages that neither you nor they are aware of—advantages far in excess of those recognized as coming from them. After all, occasions on which you have to resort to them for aid are rare in comparison with the benefits daily afforded you under the belief that you can have their support when you will. (87)
Like other men, I have sought honors and preferment. Moreover, I have often obtained them beyond my wishes or hopes.
But I have never found in them the satisfaction that I thought I would beforehand. And this, if we well consider it, is a strong reason why we should disencumber ourselves from vain desires. (15)
Greatness and honors are sought after by all, because whatever is good or fair in them lies on the surface and is seen when they are looked at superficially, whereas the anxiety, weariness, fatigues, and risks that attend them are unseen and hidden. But if the evil inherent in them was as apparent as the good, we really would have no motive to desire them, other than this: the more men are feared, reverenced, and honored, the more they seem to approach and resemble God. And who would not wish to obtain such a likeness? (16)
Be skeptical of those who tell you they have relinquished position and power by choice, due to their love of quiet. In almost every case, they have ultimately been forced into to their position of retirement—and experience shows us that as soon as the narrowest opening offers a return to their former mode of life, nearly all of them forsake their “much prized” tranquility, and throw themselves into the opportunity as eagerly as fire rushes upon dry or resinous fuel. (17)
Ambition is not in itself an evil; nor should he be condemned whose spirit prompts him to seek fame by worthy and honorable ways. In fact, it is people like this who achieve noble and loft, whereas those untouched by the passion for fame are generally frigid souls that are more disposed for ease than effort.
But hateful and pernicious is that ambition which makes self-aggrandizement its sole end and aim, as we find in most princes, who, having this as their goal, and wanting to clear the path that leads to it, will put aside conscience, honor, humanity, and all else that is good. (32)
Pursuits that are not pushed forward by this fiery spur [fame] are lifeless and empty. (118)
…Even if there are many proofs and almost a certainty indicating the very opposite, a confident assertion or denial will often to some extent perplex and puzzle your listeners’ minds. (37)
People who are involved in important matters and seeking to rise in the world should conceal their failures and magnify their successes.
Though this is a type of charlatanism abhorrent to my nature, nowadays worldly advancement depends more on people’s opinions than reality, and it is beneficial to create the impression that things are going well, but harmful for the contrary to be believed. (86)
If want to conceal or misrepresent one of your intentions, try to show others—with the strongest and gravest reasons possible—that you intend the opposite.
When people think you are convinced that reason favors a particular course, they will readily persuade themselves that you will base your decisions on what reason dictates. (199)
Open sincerity is universally exalted and regarded as praiseworthy, whereas deception is detested and condemned. But for an individual, deception is usually more useful, whereas sincerity tends to advance the interests of others.
However, since deception is without a doubt not a good thing, I would commend someone who is usually open and sincere, and only resorts to deception in certain rare and important matters.
Furthermore, in this way, he will gain a reputation for honesty and sincerity as well as the accompanying advantages of such a reputation; and when he does resort to deception in those matters of extreme emergency, he will benefit even more from it, being that is reputation for honesty will make other believe him more easily. (104)
Even after someone has obtained a reputation for feigning and dissembling, we often find that his frauds sometimes succeed. (105)
Tell no one what you would not have everyone know.
After all, people can be moved to tattle by various causes—for instance, folly, gain, or a vain desire to be thought knowing—and if you have needlessly divulged your secret to another, you need not be surprised if he—having less reason than you to be silent—passes it on. (49)
A prince or anyone else who is employed in state affairs ought not only keep secret the things that it is desirable to not have known, but should also accustom himself and his ministers to be silent regarding anything at all that he would not have made public—including even very minor and insignificant matters. If your subjects and those about you are thus kept in the dark as to your intentions, and abide in suspense and wonder, they will watch even your slightest movements and gestures. (88)
Though you have much to gain by conducting your affairs secretly, you have even more to gain by contriving not to appear secretive to your friends. After all, most people feel slighted and offended when they see you unwilling to impart your affairs to them.
It is not desirable to gain a reputation for being suspicious and distrustful.
And yet, people are so false and crafty, resort to so many deep and ambiguous devices, and are so keen for their own interests and careless of those of others, that we can hardly err in believing little and distrusting much. (157)
Though I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that people should avoid ordinary conversation or talking together in pleasant and kindly amity, I will say that it is prudent to speak of your own affairs only when absolutely necessary, and when speaking them, to confine your accounts of them to what is necessary for the present conversation or purpose, keeping as much to yourself as possible.
It is more pleasant to do otherwise, but more useful to do this. (184)
I am slow to believe news that in itself seems likely, unless it comes from a reliable source. After all, it is easy to fake what people are already prepared to accept, whereas things in themselves improbable and unlooked for are seldom invented. And since this is the case, I am also less apt to discredit unlikely news. (89)
It would by all means be desirable to do things or cause things to be done exactly as they ought to be, and so that they should be free from the smallest flaw or defect. But this is very difficult to do, and it is a mistake to spend much time in over-refining—for other opportunities will often escape us while working to attain this perfection. And even when we think we have succeeded in our efforts, we will later come to see that we have been deceived—for due to the nature of things in this world, it is seldom possible to find anything that has no imperfection or blemish whatsoever. Thus, we must be content to take things as they are, and to consider the least evil as good. (126)
In all decisions and actions that we can make, there will be reasons that support the contrary—for nothing is perfect enough to be entirely free of blemishes.
Nothing is so bad that it does not contain some good, and nothing is so good that is does not contain some bad.
And thus it happens that many people, being perplexed by every trifling difficulty, rest always in suspense. These are the persons we speak of as over-scrupulous, because they entertain doubts about everything.
Rather than being this way, we should, after balancing the disadvantages on both sides, accept those that weigh the least, remembering that no course we can take will be clear and perfect in each and every way. (213)
Though we must be cautious in our undertakings, we are not therefore to conjure up so many difficulties in respect of them as shall make us stop short from thinking success hopeless. On the contrary, we are to reflect that greater facilities may disclose themselves in the execution of our designs, and that as we proceed, obstacles may disappear of themselves. (194)
Small and almost imperceptible beginnings are often the cause of great disasters or successes—and thus, maximum prudence lies in noting and weighing well all circumstances, even if small. (82)
How often we hear it said, “Had this been done or that left undone, this or the other result would have followed.” And yet, were it possible to test these opinions, we should find them false. (22)
By nature I am extremely firm and settled in my resolutions.
But nevertheless, after deciding on some important step, I often experience some type of repentance for the course I have chosen.
And this is not because I believe I would choose differently if I were to choose again. Rather, it is because before I chose, I had the difficulties of each choice better in view; whereas after my resolution is formed, I no longer fear the difficulties of those options I did not take, and I only consider those that I still to have to deal with, which, looked at alone, seem far greater than they would have appeared if contrasted with the others.
In order to free myself from this disquietude/torment, I have to diligently/carefully recall in my mind those other difficulties I had previously set aside. (156)
How many acts are blamed when done, which, if we could see what would have followed had they not been done, would have been praised! And likewise, how many things are praised that under like circumstances would have been blamed!
Therefore, do not be hasty in either commending or condemning based on a mere superficial view of things. To form a just and solid judgment, look carefully below what appears to the eye/the apparent surface. (215)
Princes have an infinite number of secrets, and an endless number of matters to take into account. Thus, it is mere rashness to hastily judge their actions—for often it happens that what you suppose a prince to have done for one reason, has in fact been done for another; and what seems to you done at random and imprudently, has been done designedly and with consummate wisdom. (154)
Messer Antonio of Venafra was wont to say, and with justice, that if some six or eight sensible men are brought together to consult, they become that many fools. For, disagreeing among themselves, they rather promote disputes than arrive at conclusions. (112)
Do not work to effect changes that do not remove the grievances under which you suffer, but merely substitute one oppressor for another. Changes of this kind only leave you where you were.
For example, what profits it to have banished John of Poppi from the service of the Medici, if Bernard of S. Miniato, a person of like character and condition, enters in his room? (50)
Future matters are so deceptive and subject to so many accidents that even the wisest of all people regularly make miscalculations. In fact, if we were to track their predictions, particularly those regarding particular events—for in their general conclusions they are less apt to be misled—we would find them as inaccurate as people who are considered less discerning.
Therefore, is usually unwise to give up a present good due to apprehension of a future evil, unless the evil is either very certain and near, or far greater in degree than the good. Otherwise, due to a fear that may afterwards turn out to have been groundless, you may lose the good that lay within your grasp. (23)
Never assume anything will happen, no matter how certain it may seem.
As long as you can do so without upsetting your plans, keep something in reserve to be used in case the opposite of your expectations occurs.
After all, since things often turn out so differently from what was looked for, it is only prudent to act in this way. (81)
In narrating current events, some writers will enter on a discussion of what is likely to happen hereafter.
However, even when such forecasts are made by well-informed people and seem admirable to the reader, they are actually very misleading—for these types of logical conclusions are like chain links: they depend on one another, and if any of them fail, the other deductions will all fall to the ground. Even the smallest variation in the circumstances can be enough to cause an error in the conclusion.
Thus, it is impossible to form a judgment of the course of events that are still remote. Our opinions must be formed and modified from day to day. (114)
I have noticed that when men of great sagacity have to decide on an important matter, they almost always end up distinguishing the various courses it may take, and, after considering two or three probable contingencies, form their final decision on the assumption that one of these will indeed happen.
Be warned that this is a dangerous method to follow—for in almost all cases, some other contingency will turn up that was not taken into account by these deliberations and met by these decisions.
Thus, in forming decisions, it much wiser to assume that the unlikely might happen, and only limit your deliberations when necessary. (182)
Whoever well-considers it will hardly deny that in human affairs, Fortune rules supreme. After all, we constantly find the most momentous result springing from fortuitous causes that were not within human power to either foresee or escape. And although discernment and vigilance may temper many things, they cannot do so un-helped, but always stand in need of favorable Fortune. (30)
As for those who ascribe everything to prudence and capacity, and exclude as much as they can the influence of Fortune, even they must admit that much depends on being born at a time when your virtues or qualities are in demand. …
But of course, if someone could change his nature to suit the circumstances of the times, then he would be so much the less under Fortune’s control. However, this is difficult if not downright impossible to do. (31)
Neither wise men nor fools can in the end escape what has to be. And thus, nothing I have ever read seems to me more true than that saying of Seneca: “Ducunt volentes fata, nolentes trahunt” [Fate leads the willing; drags the unwilling.] (138)
The truest test of someone’s courage is his behavior when overtaken by unforeseen dangers. He who shows a good front to these—as we find very few do—really deserves to be called resolute and intrepid. (70)
Things we do not anticipate move us beyond comparison more than those that are foreseen—and thus, I pronounce it to be a great and resolute spirit that stands undismayed amid sudden dangers and disasters; for this in my judgment is the rarest excellence.
The person who rushes blindly into dangers without discerning their true character—he is merely foolhardy.
The person who recognizes dangers and fears them no more than he should—he is the type of person that ought to be called brave. (95)
Those who govern states must not be daunted by seeming dangers, however great, near, and imminent they look. For, like the proverb says, “The Devil is never so black as he is painted.” Many things may come about that will cause dangers to disappear of themselves. And even of those that do arrive, some un-thought of remedy or alleviation will be found to accompany them. (116)
Anything that is destined to perish by a gradual wasting away rather than sudden violence will end up enduring longer than you might suppose at first sight.
An example of this is hectic patient, who, after his case has been pronounced hopeless, will sometimes linger on not just for days, but even for weeks or months. And likewise, in the city that has had to be reduced by blockade, the unconsumed stores are constantly in excess of what all had reckoned them to be. (34)
Do not attempt any [local] innovation in the hope that the people will second you—for this is a dangerous foundation to build on*. The people will either lack the courage to stand by you, or, as is so often the case, will cherish views that differ greatly from what you imagine.
Consider the case of Brutus and Cassius: after murdering Caesar, not only did they not receive the public support they had counted on*, they even had to flee to another city out of fear of that very public. (121)
Wise economy consists not so much in knowing how to avoid expenses—for these are often unavoidable—as in knowing how to spend to advantage and get extra value for your money. (56)
In wars, those who attempt to spend the least always end up spending the most—for nothing demands a larger or more unstinted/lavish outlay of money than war. The more complete the preparations are, the sooner will the war be over; and since the failure to spend money will prolong the enterprise, it will ultimately cost far more [than not trying to have saved money in the first place].(149)
Too subtle an intellect is a gift that brings torment and unhappiness to its possessor, since it only serves to involve him in scruples and anxieties unknown to people of duller perceptions. (6)
Distrust those who talk loudly of liberty. Nearly all of them—nay, all of them without exception—have their own ends to serve; and we are often shown by experience—which is our surest guide—that these fellows will rapidly rush to an absolute government if they think it will allow them to push their fortunes better. (66)
One who has sound sense can make great use of another who has fine parts; much more so than the other can make of him.
If you observe closely, you will find that not only the manners of people, but also their language and modes of speech, dress, style of building, methods of cultivation, and the like, alter from age to age; but, what is more remarkable, their sense of taste also alters, so that a kind of food that is relished by one generation is often displeasing to the next. (69)
There is nothing in life that should be more desirable or that brings more glory than seeing your enemy prostrate in the dust and at your mercy. And this glory is doubled by he who uses the occasion well—that is, he who shows mercy, and is content with having had the victory. (72)
Revenge does not always spring from hatred or a cruel disposition—it is sometimes necessary, in order to set an example that will teach others they must not harm us.
And likewise, it is not necessarily improper to get revenge without feeling rancor against the person revenged. (74)
If someone takes revenge in such a way that the person who is hurt does not know where the injury comes from, then the act must have been done out of a motive of rancor and hatred. It would be more generous/honest to work openly so that everyone may know who did the act—for then that person will be thought to have acted not so much from hatred and vindictiveness, but more from a motive to clear his honor—or in other words, to be known as the type of person who will not put up with offenses. (202)
What does it matter to me if the person who injures me is acting out of ignorance and not from ill will? In fact, this can make it all the worse—for ill will has definite ends, works by its own rules, and thus does not always inflict the hurt it might; whereas ignorance, having neither rule, nor aim, nor measure, behaves like a madman, and deals its blows in the dark. (168)
Happy/lucky are they to whom the same opportunity offers itself twice. Even a wise person may neglect or misuse it on the first occasion—but to fail to recognize and profit by it the second time is certainly foolish. (80)
If you would be someone employed in [worldly] affairs, never allow such affairs to leave your hold. You will not be able to recover them at your convenience.
But if you continuously retain your hold on them, one will lead to another, even without your using any special diligence or industry to get them. (84)
With a tyrant, it is safer to stand fairly well with him than share his closest intimacy. This way, if you are generally esteemed [in the community], not only will you profit by his greatness—and sometimes more than those people he feels close to—you may also hope to save yourself in the event of his downfall. (100)
To protect yourself against a brutal and bloodthirsty tyrant, no rule or remedy can be prescribed that will avail anything to you, except what is recommended in the case of the plague: Flee as fast and as far as you can. (101)
There is no man so prudent as to not sometimes make mistakes. Good fortune lies in our making fewer than others do, or in matters of lesser importance. (108)
He who would be loved by his superiors should be sure to show them respect and reverence. And if he errs on this point, let it be on the side of excess rather than the opposite—for there is nothing that offends a superior more than the notion that he has not received the attention or consideration he thinks his due.
See the extent people deceive themselves! They regard the sins they do not commit as heinous, and those they do commit as trivial. (122)
During wartime, I have often received news that seemed to indicate our affairs were desperate, but was followed shortly later by other news of a reassuring kind; or sometimes the good news came first and the bad news later.
In fact, these contrary rumors were not uncommon at all—a lesson to a wise captain not to be too easily depressed or elated. (127)
To speak of “the people” is in truth to speak of a beast, mad, mistaken, perplexed, and lacking taste, discernment, or stability. (140)
It is no wonder we are ignorant of what has happened in past ages, or of what is currently happening in distant countries and remote cities. After all, if you note it well, you will see that we lack true knowledge even when it comes to what is presently going on day to day in our own town. In fact, between the palace and the marketplace there often lies so dense a mist or so thick a brick wall that no eye can penetrate it; so that the people know as much of what their rulers are dong, or their reasons for doing it, as they know of what is being done in China. And thus, the world is readily filled with empty and idle beliefs. (141)
All historians—without, as it seems to me, a single exception—are at fault in omitting to relate many things known in their times, due to the fact they considered them matters known by everyone. (143)
The very same things that readily succeed and “accomplish themselves” when undertaken at the proper moment, will, if attempted prematurely, not only fail, but will often become impossible to succeed when their time does come.
Thus, rather than rushing things hastily or precipitating events, we should await their season and maturity. (78)
Unless rightly understood, the proverb that bids the wise man to take advantage of time might be dangerous.
By failing to use an opportunity when it offers itself, it might be lost forever; and for many for many things we must decide and act quickly.
However, when we are surrounded by difficulties and trouble, procrastinating and gaining time can either extricate ourselves from troubles, or at least allow us to understand them better.
By putting this meaning on the proverb, it is wholesome; but interpreted otherwise, it might frequently prove harmful. (79)
He who is in too great haste to bring a war to a conclusion will often prolong it, by failing to await the necessary supplies and the right time for the enterprise.
Such a person makes what might have been easy quite difficult—and for every day he thought he would gain, he often loses a month or more. Plus, his haste often causes many additional disasters. (148)
Both in wars and in many other important matters, I have often seen preparations neglected due to impression that they were too late, and yet it has been seen afterwards that they would have been in time, and that the omission to make them has caused much loss.
This results from the fact that things often move slower than we anticipate them to, and that what we imagine will be over in a month often is still ongoing after a few months.(162)
Though human life is short, rest assured that he will find it long enough who knows to make wise use of his time, and does not unprofitably waste it; for a man’s nature fits him for great efforts, and anyone who is diligent and resolute will get through an incredible amount of work. (145)
Everyone has defects—some more, some fewer. It follows then that no friendship, fellowship/service, or dependent-relation/companionship can endure unless both sides have some tolerance towards each other.
Therefore, we ought to understand one another, and remember that change will never free us from all imperfections, but only introduce us to new and perhaps greater ones.
So we should try to tolerate one another.
However, let us be careful to be compliant only in such matters that can be put up with, and in themselves are not of great importance. (214)
Pray to God that you are always found on the winning side—for in being so, you will be credited even for what you had no part in; whereas he who stands with the losers is baled for an endless number of ___ he is wholly guiltless of. (176)
Trades and industries are at their best when they are not yet generally understood to be profitable. When seen by all to be so, they fall off; because, from many resorting to them, the competition prevents them from being any longer lucrative. In all things, it profits to be up betimes. (178)
In matters of business, take this as a maxim: it is not enough to give things their beginning, direction, or impulse; we must also follow them up and never slacken our efforts until they are brought to a conclusion. Whoever conducts business on this system contributes in no small measure to its settlement; while he who follows a different plan will often assume things to be ended which in truth are hardly begun, and the difficulties whereof are not yet reached; such are the heedlessness, futility, and perversity of men, and such the lets and hindrances that things present in their own nature. (192)
When enemies who usually have been leagued together against you chance to fall out, to attack one of them in the hope to dispose of him separately is often the occasion for all to unite afresh. It behoves you, therefore, to note carefully what the differences that have arisen between them are, together with all the other conditions and circumstances in which they stand, that you may judge whether it is more for your interest to single out one of them for attack, or to stand aloof and look on while they fight it out among themselves. (221)
In my youth, I made light of such superficial accomplishments as dancing, singing, and playing; nay, even of writing a fair hand, knowing how to ride, how to dress becomingly, and all other like arts, which savor more of show than substance.
Since then, however, I have seen reason to change my mind. For though it is undoubtedl a mistake to waste too much time in cultivating these graces, or to make a lad’s entire training consist in acquiring them to perfection, still I have found by experience that these gifts and the knack of doing everything confer honor and reputation even among men of good birth; and that too in so marked a degree that we may say he lacks something who is without them. Moreover, excellence in matters of this sort opens the way to the favor of princes, and offers a beginning or occasion to him who is a proficient therein to obtain high and lucrative preferment—for the world and its rulers are what they are, and not what they should be. (179)
Wars have no greater peril than he who has just entered upon them should take their success for certain. For however safe and easy they may seem, they are subject to a thousand accidents, and these will lead to still greater disorder if he whom it concerns is not ready to put forth both strengths and courage; as he will be where preparations have been made from the first on the footing that difficulties will have to be encountered. (180)
Prosperity/good-fortune is often our worst enemy, making us vicious, frivolous, and insolent—and thus, bearing it well is a better test of person than bearing adversity. (164)
Far higher satisfaction will be found in controlling than in gratifying the passions. For such gratification is brief, and of the body; whereas the satisfaction we feel when passion has been subdued is lasting, and is of the mind and conscience.
Though venting our feelings—whether of pleasure or discontent—is a great case to a man’s heart, it is also dangerous wherefore, however hard it may be, it is wise to abstain.
No two men could have been more unlike in character than the Popes Julius and Clement. For while the former was of great and even excessive courage, ardent, impulsive, frank, and open, the latter was of a temper inclining rather to timidity, most patient, moderate, and withal deceitful. And yet from natures so opposite the same results, in the shape of great achievements, could be looked for. Because in the hands of great masters patience and impetuosity are alike fitted to effect important ends; the one operating by a sudden onslaught, breaking down all opposition; the other seeking to wear out by delay and to conquer with the aid of time and opportunity. So that where the one hinders, the other helps, and conversely. But were it possible for a man to combine the two natures, he would indeed be divine. As this, however, can hardly happen, I believe that, all things considered, greater results are to be obtained by moderation and patience than by impetuosity and daring.
Although we act on the best advice, yet, so uncertain is the future, the results are often uncertain. Still, we are not on that account to give ourselves up like beasts a prey to Fortune, but like men to walk by Reason. And he who is truly wise should be better pleased to have been guided by good advice though the result be untoward, than to have prospered in following evil counsel.
I have ever been of a most open nature, and the sworn foe of all quirks and cavils, so that anyone dealing with me has always felt himself much at his ease. Nevertheless, I have recognized that in negotiating, this artifice is of signal service, namely, never to come at once to those questions that are of most moment, but postponing these to the last, to allow yourself to be drawn towards them only step by step and reluctantly. Whose does this often succeeds beyond his hopes; while he who transacts business as I do, will only secure that without which no settlement were possible. (132)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 6263 We see that the old are more avaricious than the young, and yet the reverse should hold, for as they have shorter time to live, less should suffice them. The reason commonly given is that they are more timorous; but this I do not believe. For I see that many of them are more cruel, and, if not in act, at any rate in inclination, more prone to lust than young men, and more disturbed by the thought of death. I think the true reason is that the longer a man lives, the more his habits grow confirmed, and the closer he applies himself to the things of this world, and so comes to love them more, and to be more moved by them.
64 Before the year 1494 wars were protracted, battles bloodless, the methods followed in besieging towns slow and uncertain; and although artillery was already in use, it was managed with such want of skill that it caused little hurt. Hence it came that the ruler of a state could hardly be dispossessed. But the French, on their invasion of Italy, infused so much liveliness into our wars, that up to the year 1521, whenever the open country was lost the state was lost with it. Signer Prospero Colonna, by his successful defence of Milan, was the first to show how an attacking army might be withstood; after which lesson the rulers of states regained the same security against assailants that they had enjoyed before the year 1494, but for other reasons; for before that time their security arose from men not having mastered the methods of attack, whereas now it results from their proficiency in the arts of defence.
65 Whosoever first gave the name impedimenta to the baggage of an army, could not have named it better. Nor is it ill said that such and such a thing is as hard as to shift a camp. For it is an almost endless business to get together in a camp all that is needed for moving it.
66 Distrust those who talk loudly of liberty; for nearly all of them, aye all of them without exception, have their own ends to serve. And often we are shown by experience, which is our surest guide, that these fellows, when they think they can push their fortunes better under an absolute government, rush to it posthaste.
67 There is no post or employment in the world wherein greater capacity is needed than in the command of an army, as well from the importance of the charge itself, as because it requires you to provide and arrange for an endless variety of contingencies. He, therefore, who holds such a command should be able to see a long way before him, and know at once how to repair mishaps.
68 To be neutral in the wars waged by others is a wise course for him who is in himself so strong that whichever side prevails he has no cause for fear. For he keeps clear of trouble himself, and may hope to profit from the troubles of his neighbours. But unless you be in this position, to be neutral is an indiscreet and hurtful course, leaving you a prey alike to the victor and the vanquished. And the most fatal of all neutralities is that which results not from choice, but from irresolution; that is to say, when, without making up your mind whether to take a side or no, you so behave as to give no content even to him by whom at the moment your mere assurance ance of neutrality would be welcomed. This last blunder is more likely to be committed by a commonwealth than by a prince. For generally speaking, it results from those who have to resolve being so divided in their counsels, one man urging one thing, another something else, that they cannot agree to one opinion prevailing over another. And this it was that ruined our government in 1512.
69 If you observe closely, you will find that not only the manners of men, their language and modes of speech, their dress, their style of building, their methods of cultivation, and the like, alter from age to age, but, what is more singular, their sense of taste also alters, so that a kind of food which is relished by one generation is often displeasing to the next.
70 The truest test of a man's courage is his behaviour when overtaken by unforeseen dangers. He who shows a good front to these, as we find very few do, may deservedly be pronounced resolute and intrepid.
71 When you perceive a city begin to decline,\ a government to change, a new sovereignty to grow up, or any other like mutation going on, concerning which it is sometimes possible beforehand to form an approximate judgment, be careful that you do not deceive yourself in your estimate of time. For the march of events, both from their own nature and from the various obstacles that stand in their way, is far slower than is commonly supposed, and to be mistaken on this head may do you much harm. ~ Be very careful, I say, for this is ground on which men often stumble. What I speak of happens also in matters private and personal, but is far more frequent in such as are of public and general concern; for in these the material mass is greater, its progress slower, and subject to a greater variety of accidents.
72 There is nothing in life that a man should more desire, or that brings him greater glory, than to see his enemy prostrate in the dust and at his mercy. But this glory is doubled by him who uses the occasion well, that is to say, who shows mercy and is content with having had the victory.
73 Neither Alexander the Great, nor Caesar, nor any of the other great commanders who have been renowned for their clemency, ever used it where they knew it was likely to lessen or endanger the effect of their victories (for indeed to have done so had been almost madness), but only in cases wherein its exercise, taking nothing from their safety, added largely to their fame.
74 Revenge springs not always from hatred or from a cruel disposition, but is sometimes necessary, to the end that others may be taught by example to beware how they injure us. Nor is it inconsistent that a man should revenge himself, and yet harbour no rancour against him whom he chastises.
75 Pope Leo told me that his father, Lorenzo de' Medici, would often say, “Be sure that he who speaks evil of us does not wish us well.”
76 Whatsoever has been in the past or is now will repeat itself in the future; but the names and surfaces of things will be so altered, that he who has not a quick eye will not recognise them, or know to guide himself accordingly, or to form a judgment on what he sees.
77 When ambassador in Spain, I observed that whenever the Catholic King, Don Ferdinand of Aragon, a most prudent and powerful prince, was minded to engage in any new enterprise, he would so contrive matters that before his intention was published the whole court and people were crying out and urging upon him that this was a thing he ought to do. The King disclosing his design at the moment it was thus desired and called for, it was received by his subjects and throughout his dominions with incredible support and favour.
78 The very same things which, when undertaken at the proper moment, readily succeed, and, so to speak, accomplish themselves, will, if attempted prematurely, not merely fail then, but will often also lose their aptitude for succeeding at their own time. Accordingly, you are not to rush hastily on any enterprise, nor to precipitate events, but to await their season and maturity.
79 Unless rightly understood, the proverb which bids the wise man trust to time might be dangerous. For when a coveted opportunity offers, he who fails to use it then may afterwards look for it in vain. And for many things despatch both in resolving and executing is essential. But when you are surrounded by difficulties and embarrassments, you must procrastinate and gain what time you can; for often in this way you either extricate yourself from your troubles, or at least learn to understand them better. Putting this meaning on the proverb, it is always a wholesome one; but interpreted otherwise, it might frequently prove hurtful.
80 Happy they to whom the same opportunity offers itself twice. For even a wise man may neglect or misuse a first occasion; but he must indeed be a fool who fails to recognise and profit by a second.
81 Never count so surely on the happening of any event, however certain it may seem, as not, when it can be done without crossing your plans, to keep something in reserve to be used in case the contrary of what you expect should come to pass. For things often turn out so differently from what was looked for, that it is only prudent to act in this way.
82 Small and almost imperceptible beginnings are often the occasion of great disasters or of great prosperity. The highest prudence therefore lies in noting and weighing well all circumstances, even the most trifling.
83 Once I thought that what I could not apprehend at a glance would never grow clear to me afterwards. But experience has shown me the contrary to be the case, both as regards myself and others. For the longer and more closely things are considered, the better are they understood and carried out.
84 If you would be employed in affairs, never allow yourself to be withdrawn from your hold on them, for you will not be able to recover it at your pleasure. While you continue to retain your hold, one employment will come to you after another, without your using any special diligence or address to get them.
85 Not only does one man's fortune differ from another's, but the same man's fortune will also differ. For the same man will be lucky in one thing, unlucky in something else. I myself have been fortunate in respect of those gains which come without capital, and simply through personal qualities. In all others I have been unfortunate. And things I have got with difficulty by seeking, when I have not sought them have fallen into my hands.
86 Let him who is employed in important affairs and looks to make his way in the world, conceal mishaps and magnify successes. This is a kind of quackery and abhorrent to my nature. But because under our present rulers advancement depends more on the opinion of men than on realities, it profits that things be thought to be going well with you, and hurts if the contrary be believed.
87 From friends and kinsmen you draw advantages which neither you nor they are conscious of, far in excess of those recognised as actually coming from them. For occasions on which you have to resort to them for aid are rare in comparison with the benefits daily afforded you under the belief that you can have their support when you will.
88 A prince, and every one else who is employed on state affairs, ought not only to keep secret things which it is desirable should not be known, but should accustom himself and his ministers to be silent on all matters, even the most trifling and insignificant, which he would not have made public. For your subjects and those about you being thus kept in the dark as to your intentions, abide in suspense and wonder, and your slightest movements and gestures are watched.
89 When it comes from a doubtful source, I am slow to believe news that in itself seems likely. For what men's minds are already prepared to accept as true may easily be feigned, whereas things in themselves improbable and unlocked for are not so often invented. Accordingly, when I hear unlikely news, I am less apt to discredit it.
90 They who depend on the favour of a prince will hang upon his looks and note his slightest movements and gestures, that they may fly to anticipate his wishes. This often does them ~ much harm. It is wiser to keep a cool head, and, without allowing yourself to be disturbed by trifles, to come forward only when substantial services are to be rendered.
91 I can hardly reconcile it with God's justice that that the sons of Lodovico Sforza should be permitted to enjoy the state of Milan, which their father seized upon wrongfully, and to the ruin of the whole world.
92 Never say God has prospered this man because he is good, or that another has been unprosperous because he is wicked. For we often see the contrary happen. Yet are we not therefore to pronounce that the justice of God falls short, since His counsels are so deep as rightly to be spoken of as unfathomable.
93 If a subject, in seeking to do what it is the prince's office to do, wrongs his prince and is guilty of the crime lasce majestatis, in like manner the prince who does what it is for the people and for private men to do is equally a transgressor, and commits the crime last populi. Accordingly, the Duke of Ferrara, who occupies himself with trade, with monopolies, and such other vulgar pursuits as are fit only for private men to engage in, merits the severest blame.
94 Should you frequent a prince's court in the hope to be employed by him, see that you keep yourself as much as you can before his eyes. For affairs are constantly turning up, which, if reminded of you by your presence, the prince will intrust to you, but which, were he not to see you, he would commit to another.
95 Foolhardy we may call the man who rushes blindly into dangers without discerning their true character. Him we name brave who recognising dangers fears them no more than he should.
96 It is an old saying that all wise men are timid, and for this reason, that perceiving all dangers, they have more cause to be afraid. I believe the saying to be false, since he is not to be reckoned a wise man who thinks more of a danger than he should. I would rather call him wise who rightly estimates the degree of the danger and fears it no more than he ought. It is the brave man, therefore, rather than the timid who is to be accounted wise. And assuming both to be equally discerning, the distinction between the two lies in this, that the timid man takes into account all the dangers which he knows may possibly arise, and always anticipates the worst; whereas the other, though he too discerns all dangers, yet reflecting how many of them may be escaped by proper precautions, and how many come to s nothing of themselves, does not suffer himself / to be dismayed, but goes boldly forward in the hope and confidence that everything will not happen that might.
97 When Pope Clement was created, the Marquis of Pescara said to me that this was perhaps the only occasion on which he had seen what all men desired come to pass. The explanation ) may be that it is the few and not the many who give the affairs of this world their impulse, and that the ends of the few are always different from those of the many, and so lead to other results than those the many desire.
98 Though a prudent tyrant will look with favour on those wise men who are timid, he will not feel ill-disposed to those who are brave if he know them to be of a tranquil temper. For men of this sort he may reasonably hope to content. It is the bold and restless that beyond all others displease him, since, as he can never count on satisfying them, he has to bethink him how he may get them out of his way. By a prudent tyrant, unless he looked on me as his enemy, I had sooner be taken for a bold and restless man than for a timid. The former he will seek to conciliate; with the latter he feels himself secure.
100 It is safer to stand fairly well with a tyrant than to share his closest intimacy. For living with him on this footing, if you be generally esteemed, you not only profit by his greatness, sometimes in a larger measure than those others of whom he feels himself more secure, but may also hope to save yourself in the event of his downfall.
101 To protect yourself against a brutal and bloodthirsty tyrant, no rule or remedy can be prescribed that will anything avail you, except, as recommended in the case of the plague, to flee from him as fast and as far as you can.
102 The captain who is besieged, if he expect succour, will always represent his necessities as much greater than in truth they are. But when he does not look to be relieved, having then no way left him but to tire out his opponent, and with this object to lower his hopes, he will always disguise his distress and make the least of it.
103 A tyrant will do all he can to read the secrets of your heart, plying you with civilities, conversing much with you himself, and having you watched by others, who at his orders wind themselves into your confidence. From all which snares it is not easy for you to escape. ~) Wherefore, if you would not have your thoughts known, see that you most carefully guard against aught that might tend to betray them; using the same address to this end as the tyrant to penetrate them.
104 Frank sincerity is a quality much extolled among men and pleasing to every one, while simulation, on the contrary, is detested and condemned. Yet for a man's self, simulation is of the two by far the more useful; sincerity tending rather to the interest of others. But since it cannot be denied that it is not a fine thing to deceive, I would commend him whose conductis as a rule open and straightforward, and who uses simulation only in matters of the gravest importance and such as very seldom occur; for in this way he will gain a name for honesty and sincerity, and with it the advantages attaching to these qualities. At the same time, when, in any extreme emergency, he resorts to simulation, he will draw all the greater advantage from it, because from his reputation for plain dealing his artifice will blind men more.
105 Even after a man has got a name for feigning and dissembling, you shall find that his frauds sometimes succeed. This seems a strange thing to say, and yet is undeniable; and I myself remember that the Catholic King, who beyond all other men had a reputation of this sort, when he had any end to accomplish never failed in finding dupes. This must be due either to the simplicity of men or to their greed. For greedy men believe easily whatsoever they desire, and simple men know not when they are deceived.
106 Nothing in our republican way of living gives us more trouble than to bestow our daughters suitably in marriage. And this because all men having a higher opinion of themselves than others entertain of them, think at first that they can secure alliances in quarters where they are not to be had. Accordingly, I have often seen fathers decline proposals which, after many fruitless attempts in other directions, they would gladly have accepted. You must,
therefore, measure fairly your own position with
that of others, and not let yourself be carried
away by an undue estimate of your own im-
portance. Of this I am convinced; but am
not so sure that I should know to put what I
say into practice, or avoid the common error
of valuing myself more than I ought. This
warning, however, is not meant to make us
think so meanly of ourselves, that, like Fran-
cesco Vettori, we should give our daughters
away to the first who asks for them.
107 To be bom a citizen of a dependent state is
not a thing to be desired. But if such is to be
your fate, it is better to be the dependent of
a prince than of a commonwealth. For a
commonwealth will abase all who are in sub- "C\
jection to it, nor permit any save its own citi-
zens to share its greatness. But a prince has a
wider sympathy for all his subjects, and looks on
them all with an equal eye. So that every man
may hope to be employed and advanced by him.
108 There is no man so prudent as not sometimes
to
D
to make mistakes. Good fortune lies in our making fewer than others do, or in matters of less moment.
109 It is not the fruition of free institutions, nor the end they were meant to serve, that every man should govern (for none ought to govern save such as are fit and worthy), but that good laws and ordinances be observed; which is
better secured under a commonwealth than *
under the rule of one or of a few. What
brings so much trouble on our city is that men • are not content to be free and secure, but are never at rest unless they themselves govern.
/ no What a mistake is theirs who cite on all
occasions the example of the Romans ! To do
, as the Romans did, we would need to have a
j city circumstanced like theirs. To attempt it
I with means so inferior as ours is to require of
the ass the fleetness of the horse.
111 The vulgar blame the lawyers because they differ in their opinions, not reflecting that this proceeds from no defect in the men, but from the nature of the thing. For since it is impossible to bring every particular case under general rules, questions often arise that are not expressly determined by the laws, but must be dealt with in accordance with the opinions of men, which are not always in unison. We see the same happen with physicians, with philosophers, with those who have to arbitrate in the disputes of merchants, and in the reasonings of those who take part in public affairs, among all of whom there is the same divergence of opinion as among the lawyers.
112 Messer Antonio of Venafra was wont to say, and with justice, that if some six or eight sensible men be brought together to consult, they become so many fools. For disagreeing among themselves, they rather promote disputes than arrive at conclusions.
113 He mistakes who thinks the law leaves anything to the arbitrary determination of the judge, that is to say, to be decided at his mere will and pleasure. The law never leaves to him absolutely either to give or take away. But because there are many points as to which it is impossible that the law should lay down a fixed rule, it leaves these to be dealt with by the judge according to his discretion; by which is meant that, after considering all the particulars and circumstances of the case, he is to decide as equity and conscience dictate. Wherefore, although the judge cannot be called to account for his decisions before any human tribunal, he will have to stand before the judgment-seat of God, who will pronounce whether he has determined righteously or no.
114 In narrating current events, some writers will enter on a discussion of what is likely to happen hereafter; and such forecasts, when made by men who are well informed, seem very admirable to him who reads them. Nevertheless they are extremely misleading. For as these reasonings, like the links of a chain, depend one upon another, if any one of them fail, all the others deduced from it fall to the ground, and the most trifling variation in the circumstances suffices to cause an error in the conclusion. It is impossible, therefore, to form a judgment as to the course of events while they are yet remote; our opinions must be formed and modified from day to day.
115 In a note-book written before the year 1457, I find it recorded as having been said by a wise citizen that Florence must either destroy the Monte or be destroyed by it. 1 can well believe that unless our city restrict the credit of the Monte, it may so extend its operations that it will be impossible to control it. But the thing has gone on long without producing the anticipated disorder. In a word, the movement has been slower than perhaps he who made the prophecy foresaw.
116 Those who govern states must not be daunted by seeming dangers, however great, near, and imminent they look. For the Devil, as the proverb says, is never so black as he is painted. Many things may come about that will cause dangers to disappear of themselves; and even when they do arrive, some unthought of remedy or alleviation will be found to accompany them. This is a hint to which you should give heed; for every day you will have occasion to act upon it.
117 It is most misleading to judge by examples;' for unless these be in all respects parallel, they are of no force, the least diversity in the circumstances giving rise to the widest divergence in the conclusions. To discern these minute differences requires a just and clear eye.
118. With him who greatly esteems fame, since he cares not for cost, fatigue, or danger, everything succeeds. I have found this in my own case, and therefore can say and write it boldly. Dead and empty are the pursuits of those who are not pushed forward by this fiery spur.
119 The falsification of documents is seldom contrived from the first, but is introduced afterwards in the course of time, as occasion or necessity may suggest. To secure yourself against this, it is a wise precaution that, so soon as any written instrument is executed, you have an authentic copy of it made, to be retained in your own keeping.
120 Most of the violent deeds that take place in divided cities have their origin in distrust. For one man, fearing another's treachery, is forced to forestall him. Accordingly, he who governs in such a city should seek to anticipate, and to remove all cause for distrusting him.
121 Attempt no innovation in the government of your city, in the hope that you will be seconded by the people. For this were a dangerous foundation to build on. Either they lack courage to stand by you, or else, as often happens, they cherish views very different from what you imagine. Witness the case of Brutus and Cassius, who, after the murder of Caesar, so far from receiving from the people the support they had reckoned on, were constrained through fear of them to seek refuge in the Capitol.
122 See how completely men deceive themselves! Every one regards those sins which he does not himself .commit as heinous, and those he does commit as trivial. So that good and evil are more often measured by this rule than by reflection on the nature and tendencies of our actions.
123 I am inclined to think that in all ages men have taken many things for miracles which in truth were far enough from being so. This, at least, is most certain, that every religion has had miracles of its own. Hence it follows that a miracle is but feeble testimony to the truth of one faith over that of another. Miracles, perhaps, do well display the power of God; yet not more of the God of the Christian than of the gods of the gentiles: so that it may not be amiss to say of them, and of prophecies too, that they are secrets of Nature to the depths of which the mind of man cannot reach.
124 I note that in every country, and almost in every city, worship is offered at certain shrines with exactly the same effect. In Florence, our Lady of Impruneta brings rain or fair weather; in other places, I have seen other Virgins and Saints do the same—a manifest proof that God's grace succours all. And yet, perhaps, j these effects are rather the results of men's faith ' than due to the agencies generally credited with them.
125 Philosophers, theologians, and all others who write of things unseen and supernatural, give utterance to a thousand follies. For the fact is that men are in the dark as to such matters, and the search into them has served and serves rather to exercise the intellect than to discover truth.
126 It were to be wished that we could do things, or cause them to be done, exactly to our minds, and so that they should be free from the least flaw or defect. But since this were hard of accomplishment, it is a mistake to spend much time in over-refining; for opportunities will often escape you while you labour to attain perfection. And even when you think you have succeeded in your efforts, you see afterwards that you have been deceived; for such is the nature of the things of this world, that it is scarce possible to find anything which has not somewhere imperfection or blemish. We must therefore be content to take things as they are, and to reckon the least evil as a good.
127 Tidings have often been brought me in time of war which seemed to show that our affairs were desperate, but which have been immediately followed by others of a more reassuring character; or sometimes the good tidings would come first and the bad after; and these contrary rumours would be frequently renewed. A lesson to a wise captain not to be too easily depressed or elated.
128 In affairs of state you are not so much to consider what a prince ought in reason to do, as what, having regard to his disposition and previous behavour, it is likely that he will do. For princes often do, not what they ought, but what they please, or what their nature prompts them to; and he who expects them to be guided by any different rule will find himself mightily mistaken.
129 To leave undone what, if done, would be a crime or an injustice, is not to be spoken of as a good action or a benefit. For between benefits and wrongs, between actions that are to be praised and those that are to be condemned, there lies a middle course in refraining from hurt or offence. Wherefore, let no man boast that he has not said this or done that; for true merit mostly lies in being able to affirm, I did it, or I said it.
130 Beyond all others let a prince beware of those J whose nature it is never to be satisfied. For no load of benefits he may heap upon them will ever secure him against their ingratitude.
131 There is a wide difference between having your subjects discontented and having them desperate. The discontented man, however much he may be disposed to injure you, will not lightly expose himself to danger, but will await opportunities which perhaps may never come. But the desperate man goes about seeking and searching for them, and will plunge headlong into all kinds of revolutionary hopes and schemes. From the former, therefore, you have seldom much to fear; against the latter you must be always on your guard.
132 I have ever been of a most open nature, and the sworn foe of all quirks and cavils, so that any one dealing with me has always felt himself much at his ease. Nevertheless I have recognised that in negotiating this artifice is of signal service, namely, never to come at once to those questions that are of most moment, but postponing these to the last, to allow yourself to be drawn towards them only step by step and reluctantly. Whoso does this often succeeds beyond his hopes; while he who transacts business as I do, will only secure that without which no settlement were possible.
133 So long as it brings you no loss or discredit, it is a wise course, though little followed, to hide the displeasure that you feel against others. For it often happens that at some later time you have occasion to make use of these men, which you cannot well do if they know you for their enemy. I have frequently been obliged to seek assistance from £ persons against whom I felt great bitterness; and they, believing the contrary, or at any rate not being aware of my dislike, have served me with the utmost alacrity.
134 All men are by nature more inclined to good than to evil; nor is there any one who, when other considerations do not move him to the contrary, would not more willingly do you a benefit than an injury. But human nature is so frail, and open to so many temptations, that men easily allow themselves to deviate from their natural goodness. For which reason wise lawgivers have had recourse to rewards and punishments. And this is merely an endeavour to keep men fixed in their natural inclinations by the help of hope and fear.
135 If any one be found disposed by nature to do evil rather than good, call him not a man, but rather a beast or monster; since he lacks an instinct which by nature no man is without.
.136 The fool will sometimes accomplish greater \ things than the wise man. For the latter, unless
otherwise
othenvise constrained, will trust much to reason
and little to fortune, while the other trusts much
to fortune and little to reason. But the things
seconded by fortune have often a success past
belief. The wise men of Florence would have
yielded to the present storm, but the fools being ~,
resolved, contrary to all reason, to withstand it,
have up to this time succeeded in doing what
none could have believed it in any way possible
for our city to do; and this is what is meant
by the proverb, Audaces fortuna jtwat.
137 Were the evils following from bad govern-
ment to become apparent in every particular
case, he that knew not how to govern would
either try to learn, or would leave the task of
governing to others who understood it better.
The mischief is that men, and more especially
the common sort, not recognising, by reason
of their ignorance, the cause of disorders, do
not refer these to their true source; and not
perceiving how much harm results from being
governed by those who know not how to govern,
persist in the error of themselves doing what they
do not understand, or of suffering themselves to
be governed by incompetent men; and hence
the overthrow of states is often brought about.
138 Neither wise men nor fools can in the end escape what has to be; so that nothing I ever read seems to me more true than the saying of Seneca, Ducunt volentes fata, nolentes trahunt.
139 Cities, like men, must perish: there is, however, this difference. Men perish even when they have committed no irregularities, because their material is perishable. Cities perish from no defect in their material, which constantly renews itself, but either from ill-fortune or from bad government, that is to say, the unwise methods of their rulers. Ruin coming from mere ill-fortune is extremely rare; for a city being a vigorous body and of great capacity for resistance, extraordinary and overwhelming violence must needs be employed for its destruction. Accordingly it is almost always the errors of those who govern that occasion the downfall of cities. And were a city to be always well governed, it might last for ever; or at any rate have a life out of all proportion longer than any city has yet had.
140 To speak of the people is in truth to speak of a beast, mad, mistaken, perplexed, without taste, discernment, or stability.
141 No wonder that we are ignorant of what has happened in past ages, or of what is happening now in distant countries and remote cities. For if you note it well, you will perceive that we have no true knowledge even of the present, and of what goes on from day to day in our own town. Nay, often between the palace and the marketplace there lies so dense a mist or is built a wall so thick that no eye 'can penetrate it; so that the people know as much of what their rulers are doing, or their reasons for doing it, as they know of what is being done in China. And for this reason the world is readily filled with empty and idle beliefs.
142 It is great good fortune for a man to have f occasion for making it appear that actions really j undertaken for his private ends have been J prompted by considerations of public advantage. This it was that gave such lustre to the enterprises of the Catholic King. For though these were always engaged in to add to his own greatness or security, they would often seem to be directed to defend the Church or spread the Christian faith.
/ 143 All historians, without, as it seems to me, a
single exception, are at fault in omitting to
relate many things known in their times, as
being matters of universal notoriety. Whence
it happens that in the histories of the Greeks,
the Romans, and all other nations we are at
the present day in the dark concerning many
matters of fact. For instance, as to the autho-
rity and distinctions of their magistrates, their
systems of government, their methods of war-
fare, the size of their towns, and many like
matters, which being very well known at the
date they wrote, they, in consequence, passed—
over. But had they reflected that in the course
of time cities disappear and the memory of
things is lost, and that histories are written
for no other reason than that these may be
perpetuated, they would have been more care-
ful to write in such a way that men born in a
distant age should have every event as much
before their eyes as those in whose presence they
happened; for this is the true object of history.
144 Word coming when I was in Spain that the Venetians had leagued with the King of France against the Catholic King, Almazano the Spanish Secretary said to me, We have a proverb in Castile that the rope breaks at the point where it is weakest. His meaning was, I take it that in such alliances the weakest always fares worst. For men do not govern themselves by considerations of what is right or fit, but all seeking their own advantage, agree to make him suffer, whom, as being the feeblest among them, they least fear. Whosoever, therefore, has to negotiate with others more powerful than himself should keep this proverb in mind; for every hour will prove its truth.
145 Though human life be short, rest assured that he will find it long enough who knows to make wise use of his time, and does not unprofitably waste, it. For man's nature fits him for great efforts, and any one who is diligent and resolute will get through an incredible amount of work.
146 It is a great misfortune to be so situated that you cannot secure a good without first accepting an evil.
147 He mistakes who thinks the success of an enterprise to depend on whether it be just or no. For every day we have proof to the contrary, and that it is not the justice of a cause, but prudence, strength, and good fortune that give the victory. It is doubtless true that in him who has right on his side there is often bred a firm confidence, founded on the belief that God will favour the righteous cause, which makes him bold and stubborn, and that from this boldness and stubbornness victories do sometimes follow. In this way it may now and then indirectly help you that your cause is just. But it is a .mistake to suppose that directly any such effect is produced.
148 He that is in too great haste to bring a war to a conclusion will often prolong it; for the failure to await the necessary supplies and the fitting season for the enterprise makes that difficult which otherwise had been easy; and thus for every single day it was thought to gain by despatch, more than a month is frequently lost; not to mention that this may be the cause of further disaster.
149 In wars whoso would be sparing will spend most, since there is nothing that demands a larger or more unstinted outlay. The more complete your preparations are, the sooner will the war be over; and as the failure to spend money prolongs the enterprise, the cost in the end is out of all comparison greater. Accordingly there is nothing more ruinous than to enter on a campaign when you are without ready money, and have to pay by drafts at long dates; for in this way you rather feed the war than finish it.
150 If you have done a man a wrong, never afterwards think it sufficient ground for trusting him or confiding in him, that from the business on which you employ him he may, if he conduct it well, reap both honour and profit. For in some men, from their nature, the memory of wrong has such ascendancy, that it drives them to revenge themselves even to their hurt; either because they value this satisfaction more, or because passion so blinds them that they cannot recognise what would be honourable and useful for them. Keep this maxim in mind, for there are many who make this mistake.
151 Remember, as I have already warned you in respect of princes, to keep your eye fixed not so much on what those with whom you have dealings ought in reason to do, as on what, having regard to their disposition and habits, it may be expected that they will do.
152 Take heed how you involve yourself in new enterprises or engagements; for once in, you are forced to go on. Whence it results that men are often found labouring through tasks which being embarked in they cannot withdraw from, though had they foreseen a tenth part of their difficulty they would have gone a thousand miles to avoid them. This rule holds most of all in feuds, factions, and wars, before taking part in which, or in anything of a like nature, no amount of careful and cautious consideration will be excessive.
153 It is seen that ambassadors often take the part of the prince to whose court they are sent; and this makes them be suspected either of having received bribes, or of looking for them, or at least of having been won over by the civilities and attentions paid them. Yet it may also be that having the affairs of the prince with whom they are living constantly before their eyes, and their attention less drawn to any others, these seem to them of more than their true importance. But as this reason does not operate with the prince who sends them, by whom all the circumstances needing to be considered are equally known, he speedily sees his
minister
minister to be at fault, and often ascribes to dis-
honesty what in truth results from want of judg-
ment. Let him who goes as an ambassador
note this well, for it is a matter of much impor-
tance.
154 Numberless are the secrets of princes, and endless the matters they have to take into account; wherefore it were rashness to judge hastily of their actions. For often it happens \ that what you suppose a prince to have done for one reason, has in fact been done for another; and what seems to you done at random and imprudently, has been done designedly and with consummate wisdom.
155 It is said that he who is not acquainted with all particulars cannot form a true judgment. And yet you shall often see a man who is wanting in discernment judge better when he has only a general acquaintance with a subject, than when all the particulars are before him. For on a general view a right conclusion will frequently occur to him; whereas on hearing particulars he gets bewildered.
156 By nature I am extremely firm and settled in my resolutions. And yet, after deciding on some important step, I am often visited with a kind of repentance for the course I have taken. Not that I believe that had I to resolve again I would resolve differently, but because before I resolved I had the difficulties on both sides more under my eyes; whereas after my resolution is formed, and I no longer fear the difficulties I put to flight 1n forming it, those alone present themselves against which I have still to combat, which, looked at apart, seem far greater than they would have appeared if contrasted with the others. To free myself from this disquietude, I have carefully to recall to my mind those other difficulties which I had previously set aside.
157 It is not desirable to have earned for oneself a name for being suspicious and distrustful. And yet men are so false and crafty, resort to so many deep and ambiguous devices, are so keen for their own interests and so careless of those of others, that we can hardly err in believing little and distrusting much.
158 The advantages you draw from having gained a good name and reputation are seen every hour; and yet are as nothing compared with those which are unseen, and which, led by the good opinion that prevails concerning you, come of their own accord without your knowing why. Most truly was it said by the wise man, A good name is better than much riches.
159 I find no fault with prayer, fasting, and such •"' other devout observances as are either prescribed by the Church or recommended by! , the Friars. But the best of all good observances, and in comparison wherewith all others i are insignificant, is to wrong no man and do ( what good you can to all. '
160 Though it be certain we must all die, yet do we live as though safe to live for ever. I do not believe the cause of this to be that the things before our eyes, and which strike the senses, move us more than those that are unseen and remote. For death is near; nay, we may say from daily experience, is present with us from hour to hour. The explanation I therefore take to be, that Nature would have us live as the course or true order of this machine our earth requires; and not desiring this to remain as though dead and senseless, has endowed us with the peculiarity of not
thinking of death; since, were we to think of it, the world would brim over with sloth and indolence.
161 When I consider to what risks and perils of sickness, accident, violence, and numberless other ills, the life of man is open, and call to mind how many circumstances must combine throughout the year to ensure a good harvest, nothing fills me with more wonder than that any man should live to be old, or any year be fruitful.
162 Both in wars and in many other affairs of moment I have often seen preparations neglected under an impression that they were too late; and yet it has been seen afterwards that they would have been in time, and that the omission to make them has occasioned much loss. This results from the movement of things being much slower than we think for; so that often what you imagined would be over in one month, is not ended in three or four. This is an important reflection, and one whereof to take heed.
163 How true the saying of the ancients that Place shows a man! For nothing so clearly reveals a man's qualities as to invest him with place and power. How many there are who talk well, yet know not how to act! How many in the street or in the market-place seem capable men, who when employed are discovered to be shadows !
164 Prosperity is often our worst enemy, making us vicious, frivolous, and insolent; so that to bear it well is a better test of a man than to bear adversity.
165 It might seem from one point of view that a prince or master should know better than any one else the character of his subjects or servants, since their actions and behaviour must constantly come under his notice. But from another point of view the contrary holds; for before others a servant will show himself more openly, while with his master he will use all craft and care to cloak his nature and thoughts.
166 Do not suppose that he who acts on the offensive—the besieger of a city for instance— can foresee all the methods of defence to which his adversary may resort. To the mind of a skilful assailant all the ordinary remedies of
a
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
a defender will present themselves; but to the defender himself the peril and extremity to which he is reduced will suggest extraordinary remedies, such as another not stimulated by the same necessity would never think of.
1 $7 There is nothing, I think, in the world worse than levity. For light men are the ready tools of any cause, be it ever so bad, dangerous, or disastrous. Flee them, therefore, as you would fire.
168 What matters it to me that he who injures me acts through ignorance and not from illwill? Nay, the injuries of the ignorant are often the worst. For ill-will has definite ends,
(' and works by its own rules, and consequently does not always inflict the hurt it might. But ignorance having neither rule, aim, or measure, behaves like the madman and deals its blows in the dark.
169 Take it for certain that, whether you live under a commonwealth, under an oligarchy, or under a sole prince, it is impossible for you to have everything your own way. Wherefore, if you be disappointed in something you had set your heart on, do not fall into a passion, nor fly out against the government; at least when your standing is such as ought to content you. Otherwise you bring trouble on yourself, and sometimes on your city; and almost always find in the end that you have made your condition worse than before.
170 It is a great happiness for princes that they can easily shift to other shoulders responsibilities properly their own. For nearly always we find that the mistakes they make and the wrongs they do, although in reality proceeding from themselves, are ascribed to the advice or, instigation of those about them. This I believe results not so much from any adroitness on the part of princes in fostering such a belief, as from the circumstance that men of their own accord turn their hatred and reproaches against him who stands nearer them, and whom they think they can attack with less difficulty.
171 It was a saying of Duke Lodovico Sforza that princes and crossbows were to be tried by the same test. Whether a crossbow were a good one or no could be known by the bolts it
carried;
carried; and the worth of a prince was seen in the men he sent to represent him abroad. We may accordingly infer what kind of a government we have in Florence when at one and the same moment we see employed as her ambassadors Carducci in France, Gualterotto in Venice, Messer Bardi in Siena, and Messer Galeotto Giugni in Ferrara !
172 Not for their own private advantage were princes ordained, but for the common welfare; and the revenues and royalties assigned them
. were meant to be used in the defence of their subjects and of their dominions. Hence it is that parsimony is more odious in a prince than in a private man. For the prince who accumulates wealth unduly, appropriates to himself that whereof he never was made absolute mas
i
ter, but only steward and administrator in the interest of many.
173 Prodigality in a prince is more hateful and pernicious than parsimony, since, to be prodigal, the prince must take from many; and to take from your subjects is more hurtful than not to give. And yet it would seem that subjects are better pleased with a prodigal than with a parsimonious simonious prince. The reason is, that although those to whom the prodigal gives are few as compared with those from whom he takes, of whom there must needs be many, nevertheless, as I have said before, hope has so much more influence over men -than fear, that they sooner look to be of the few to whom is given than of the many from whom is taken.
174 Do all you can to stand well with princes and with those in authority. For although you be innocent of offence, peaceful and regular in your life, and in no way disposed to give trouble, things may occur at any moment which will necessarily bring you under the arm of the ruler. Moreover, the mere belief that you are not acceptable to the powers that be will do you harm in an infinity of ways.
175 A ruler or magistrate should take all possible heed not to display hostility to any man, or seem to seek vengeance for injuries done to himself. For he incurs grave blame who employs the public arm to redress his private wrong. Let him be patient, therefore, and bide his time. For occasion must needs come when he may effect his end with justification and without impeachment of rancour.
Pray
176 Pray God that you be always found on the winning side; for so you get credit even for things in which you had no part; whereas he who stands with the losers has endless offences imputed to him whereof he is wholly guiltless.
177 In Florence, by reason of the poor spirit of our citizens, it commonly happens that when a man has committed some violent offence against the state, no attempt is made to punish him, but all efforts are used to let him escape scot-free, on his engaging to disarm and not to renew his misconduct. These are not ways to restrain the insolent, but to change Iambs into lions.
178 Trades and industries are at their best when they are not yet generally understood to be profitable. When seen by all to be so, they fall off; because, from many resorting to them, the competition prevents them from being any longer lucrative. In all things it profits to be up betimes.
179 In my youth I made light of such superficial accomplishments as dancing, singing, and playing; nay, even of writing a fair hand, knowing how to ride, how to dress becomingly, and all
other
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
other like arts, which savour more of show than substance. Since then, however, I have seen reason to change my mind. For though it were doubtless a mistake to waste too much time in cultivating these graces, or to make a lad's entire training consist in acquiring them to perfection, still I have found by experience that these gifts and the knack of doing everything well confer honour and reputation even upon men of good birth; and that too in so marked a degree that we may say he lacks something who is without them. Moreover, excellence in matters of this sort opens the way to the favour of princes, and offers a beginning or occasion to him who is a proficient therein to obtain high and lucrative preferment. For the world and its rulers are what they are, and not what they should be.
180 Wars have no greater peril than that he who has just entered upon them should take their success for certain. For however safe and easy r they may seem, they are subject to a thousand accidents, and these will lead to still greater disorder if he whom it concerns is not ready to put forth both strength and courage; as he will be where preparations have been made from the first on the footing that difficulties will have to be encountered.
181 For eleven successive years I was engaged in governing for the Church, and so much to the satisfaction both of my employers and of those over whom I ruled, that had it not been for the events which took place in Rome and Florence in the year 1527, 1 might have continued to govern for a great while longer. During all this time I found that nothing strength
/-"' ened me so much in my position as to seem ^ indifferent whether I was employed or no. For on this footing, without fear or favour, I did whatever was suitable to the office I held; and this gave me such a reputation as of itself helped me more, and more honourably, than any blandishments, interest, or address I could have used.
182 I have noticed that men of great sagacity, when they have to resolve on any business of moment, almost invariably fall to distinguishing the various courses the thing may take, and after considering two or three probable contingencies, form their final resolve on the footing that some one of these will happen.
Be
Be warned that this is a dangerous method
to follow; for often, and indeed almost always,
some other contingency, not taken into account
in your deliberations and not met by your ._
resolve, will turn up. Accordingly, it is your •
safer plan, in resolving, to assume that things
you think unlikely may well come about, and
never where you can help it to limit the scope
of your deliberations.
183 A wise captain, if not constrained by necessity,
will never bring his army into battle unless he
see that it will fight to great advantage; for
the issue is too much in the hands of Fortune,
and defeat -too serious a risk
184 I would not have men shut out from ordinary matters of talk, nor from a pleasant and loving familiarity in their intercourse with one another. But I maintain it to be a prudent course not to speak of your own private affairs unless obliged, and then to say no more about them than is needed for the argument or object you have in hand, keeping everything else to yourself. To do otherwise may be more agreeable, but it is more useful to do this.
185 Men always praise lavish spending in others,
% and
F
and generosity and magnificence in their mode of living. Yet most men in their own case pursue a contrary course. You should therefore measure your outlay by your means, and by the advantage you may reasonably and honourably draw from it; never allowing yourself to be led into extravagance by the opinions and talk of the vulgar, or by the hope to gain • credit and approval from those who do not .' sincerely commend what they do not themselves practise.
186 You cannot adhere always to one fixed and unbending rule; so that if it be often disadvantageous to be too open in your talk even with friends—I mean in matters which should be kept secret—on the other hand, to let your friends perceive that you are keeping something from them is a sure way to make them do the like by you. For since nothing gains you another's confidence so much as his belief that you confide in him, your reticence towards others may deprive you of opportunities of learning from them. Here, therefore, as in so many other cases, the character of men, of times, and of circumstances has to be taken into account. To this end discretion is needed,
which,
which, if it be not given us by nature, can
seldom be sufficiently learned from experience,
from books never.
187 Be sure that he who conducts his affairs at
hap-hazard will come to a hap-hazard end.
The true course is to note, examine, and weigh
all things, even the most insignificant. But if N
even when we do this, we find it hard to
manage our business to our liking, think how
it Ir1ust fare with those who let everything drift
down-stream.
188 The further you depart from the mean course
in striving to avoid some extreme, the more
likely are you to fall into the extreme you
would avoid, or into some other to the full as
mischievous; and the more intent you are on
reaping the fruits of what you actually possess,
the sooner will both the possession and your
enjoyment of it come to an end. For instance,
where a people is in possession of freedom, the
more they seek to use that freedom, the sooner
will they lose it, and the more speedy will be
their fall under a despotism, or under some
other form of government no better than a
despotism.
All
189 All cities, states, and governments are mortal, since either by nature or accident everything in this world must some time have an end. Accordingly, the citizen who happens to be living when his country is in its decline should not so much lament over its unhappy fortunes as over his own. For his country only suffers what it was fated to suffer. His is the infelicity of being born at the moment when his country has to fulfil its doom.
190 It is usual to comfort those who have not succeeded to their wishes by telling them to look behind them and not before j by which is meant that they should consider how many more there are who are worse off than there are who are better off than they. This is very excellent advice, and should influence men to be contented with their lot. Yet it is not so easy to follow. For Nature has so placed our eyes, that, without straining, we cannot look elsewhere than before us.
191 We cannot blame those who are slow in resolving. For although occasions do sometimes come wherein it is necessary to resolve quickly, still, as a rule, he makes more mistakes
who who resolves quickly than he who resolves slowly. What is in the highest degree to be blamed is slowness in execution after a resolve is taken; for this, it may be affirmed, always hurts, and never helps except by accident. I mention this that you may be on your guard against it; for I see that many, either from indolence and to avoid trouble,-or from other causes, are guilty of this error.
192 In matters of business take this as a maxim, that it is not enough to give things their beginning, direction, or impulse; we must also follow them up, and never slacken our efforts until they are brought to a conclusion. Whoso conducts business on this system contributes in no small measure to its settlement; while he who follows a different plan will often assume things to be ended which in truth are hardly begun, and the difficulties whereof are not yet reached; such are the heedlessness, futility, and perversity of men, and such the lets and hindrances that things present in their own nature. Follow this rule; the doing so has sometimes gained me great honour, as a contrary course will bring him who adopts it great disgrace.
Any
193 Any one who engages in secret practices against the state must above all things be careful not to communicate by letters; for these are often intercepted, and furnish proof which cannot be controverted. And though nowadays there be many cautious methods of writing, there have also been discovered many aids for their interpretation. It is far safer to communicate through those of your household than by letter; and for this reason it is most difficult and dangerous for men of inferior rank to embark in such designs, seeing they have few whom they can employ, and in these can place little trust. For there is small risk and great gain in betraying a private man to please a prince.
194 Though we must be cautious in our undertakings, we are not therefore to conjure up so many difficulties in respect of them as shall make us stop short from thinking success hopeless. On the contrary, we are to reflect that greater facilities may disclose themselves in the execution of our designs, and that as we proceed obstacles may disappear of themselves. This is undeniable, and every one who has business to transact has daily proof of it. Had
Pope
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
Pope Clement borne this in mind, he would often have brought his schemes to a speedier and more honourable issue.
195 The courtier who would obtain from his prince favours or preferment for himself or friends, must not make too frequent direct demands; but should watch and wait occasion for adroitly suggesting or introducing his business; and when the occasion comes, should profit by it at once, and not allow it to escape. Whoso acts in this way will effect his end with far more ease to himself and far less annoyance to the prince; and after obtaining one favour will remain in a better and freer position for obtaining a second.
196 When men see you in such straits that you are of necessity compelled to fall in with their wishes, they hold you cheap and make little account of you. For regard to their own interest or indulgence of their spite has commonly more weight with them than the thought of what is right, or of your deserts, or of their obligations to you, or that it was perhaps through them, or to help them in their distress, that you have been brought low. Flee this humiliation therefore as you would flee fire. Many are the exiles from their country who never need have been so had they taken this counsel to heart. For it does not so much help a man that it was from his fidelity to this or the other prince that he has been driven from his home, as it hurts him that the prince, seeing him an outlaw, should say, “Without me this fellow can do nothing,” and accordingly should treat him as he pleases, without regard to his services.
197 Let him who has to treat with several on matters that raise many questions and difficulties be careful, if the case admits of it, to take each point apart, and say nothing of the second until the first be settled. For so it may happen that those who oppose him on one point will not go against him on another; whereas, were all the points to be taken in connection, every man who objected to any one of them would resist him upon all. Had Piero Soderini understood this, he would have succeeded when he sought to re-establish the tribunal of the Quarantia, and with the Quarantia might perhaps have restored the popular government. This hint as to getting men to swallow what is distasteful tasteful in small morsels applies often in private affairs as well as in public.
198 Be sure that in all business, whether private or public, the secret of success lies in knowing how to use opportunity; and that whether you shall prosper or fail in one and the same transaction will depend upon your managing it in one way or in another.
199 When you have any object in view that you would conceal from others, or would have others believe different from what it is, endeavour to show them by the strongest and gravest reasons you can use that you intend the contrary. For when men imagine you to be convinced that reason favours a particular course, they readily persuade themselves that your resolves will tally with what your reason dictates.
200 To get support for some scheme of your own contriving from one who might otherwise oppose it, a good way is to commit its conduct to him, and make him, as it were, sponsor for its adop- -^ tion and success. Light men especially are often won over by this device. For many of them are so tickled by vanity as to prefer the like
empty
empty honours to the solid advantages which it should be their object to seek.
201 It seems a harsh and ill-natured thing to say— would to God it were untrue !—but there are more bad than good men in this world, and more especially wherever there comes to be a question as to property or power. Accordingly, except in the case of those whom, either from your own experience of them or on thoroughly trustworthy report, you know to be good, you never can be mistaken in keeping a sharp lookout when you are dealing with others. This, indeed, must be done discreetly, and so as not to gain you a name for being suspicious. But the substantial point is to trust none unless you can do so safely.
202 When a man takes revenge in such a way that the person hurt knows not whence the injury comes, it cannot but be said that what he does is done to wreak his rancour and hatred. The more generous course is to work openly, so that all may know who it is that inflicts the injury. He will then be thought to have acted not so much from hatred and vindictiveness as to clear his honour, that is,
to
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
to be known as one whose spirit will not suffer him to put up with an affront.
203 Princes should guard against allowing their subjects too near an approach to freedom. For men instinctively desire to be free, and it is the wont of all of them never to rest contented with their condition, but always to be pushing forward from the point at which they find themselves. And this desire stirs them far more than the memory of the pleasant life they led under their prince, or of the benefits they received at his hands.
204 Do what you may, you cannot prevent your, subordinates plundering. I have been very strict in my own conduct, but in spite of all my care, and the good example I set them, I have never been able to put a stop to the dishonesty of the governors and other officers
I had under me. One cause of this is, that i money covers everything, and that, as we now live, the rich man is more esteemed than the virtuous. What makes matters worse is the folly and ingratitude of princes, who tolerate evildoers, and treat him who has served them well no better than him who has served them badly.
205 Twice I have held high command in armies employed on most important enterprises, and the lesson taught me by my experience has been, that if what is written concerning the military system of the ancients be true, as to a great extent I believe it to be, our modern system, as compared with it, is a mere shadow. For the captains of our days, lacking both energy and skill, and using neither artifice or stratagem, march at a snail's pace along a beaten track. Accordingly, when Signor Prospero Colonna, who commanded on the first expedition in which I took part, observed to me that I had not served in any previous campaign, I think I gave him a good answer when I said, “ Nor in this campaign have I learned much.”
206 I have no mind to discuss whether it is better for our bodies that we be guided by the physicians, or, as the Romans for a long while did, dispense with them altogether. Of this, however, I am certain, that whether from the difficulty of the art itself, or from want of care in the practitioner (who ought to be most vigilant, and to note with the nicest accuracy the slightest symptoms of his patient), the doctors of our times know not how to treat
any any but the most ordinary ailments, the highest reach of their skill being the cure of a double tertian; while if the case present any unusual complications, they deal with it in the dark and at random. Moreover, from his eagerness to make himself a name, and from the jealousies prevailing in the profession, the physician is a most odious creature, without conscience or scruple, who, confident that his blunders can hardly be brought home to him, whether to exalt himself or to discredit his rivals, every day subjects our bodies to his audacious experiments.
207 Of astrology, that is to say, the science which professes to foretell future events, it were folly to speak. Either the science is not a true one, or all the circumstances needed for its exercise cannot be ascertained, or else the human mind is unable to fathom its depths. But the sum of the matter is, that to hope to know the future by its means is a dream. The astrologers do not understand what they themselves say, and are never right but by accident; so that were you to take the prognostic of any one of them and the random guess of any other man, the latter were as likely as the former to turn out true.
The
208 The science of the law stands now on this footing, that if in the trial of a cause there be urged on one side some forcible argument, and on the other the authority of a doctor who has written on the subject, the latter will weigh more with the judge. Whence it follows that practising lawyers must acquaint themselves with all that every one has written, and in consequence that the time which should be devoted to searching into the reason of the thing is wasted in perusing books; and this with such fatigue and weariness both of mind and body, that the profession of the law has come more to resemble the labour of the mechanic than the deliberation of the sage.
209 I think the decisions of the Turks, being delivered promptly and almost off-hand, are less objectionable than the methods of deciding in common use among Christians, the tardiness whereof occasions so much expense and hardship to suitors, that he who wins a cause might perhaps suffer less were judgment given against him on the first day of hearing. Besides, if we assume the decisions of the Turks to be given entirely in the dark, the chances are that, taking them altogether, one half of them will be justly decided; so that, on the whole, the number of
unrighteous unrighteous judgments will be no greater than it is with us by reason of the ignorance or dishonesty of our judges.
210 “Little and good” says the proverb; and it must needs be that he who talks or writes much shall write or talk much trash; whereas a few subjects may all be well condensed and digested. It might have been better therefore to have gathered the cream of these counsels than to have collected so much crude material.
2H That spirits do exist may, I believe, be affirmed. I mean what we call spirits, that is to say, certain airy beings conversing familiarly with men. For I myself have had such proof of their existence as makes it seem to me past a doubt. But what they really are, and what their nature is, I take to be as little understood by him who persuades himself he knows, as by him who has never given the subject a thought. These manifestations, as well as the faculty of foretelling the future, which we sometimes see exercised as an art, and sometimes inspired under a divine frenzy, are secret powers of Nature, or rather of that higher agent by whom all things are set in motion, revealed to him, but hidden from us,
and and so hidden that the minds of men cannot attain to them.
212 Of the three methods of governing, to wit, by one, by a few, or by many, I believe that for Florence the second were the worst, as not natural to our city, and no more acceptable there
, than a tyranny, while the rivalries and dissensions attending it would give rise to the very same mischiefs that a tyranny produces; nay, might divide the city sooner, without effecting any of the good results a tyrant might bring about.
213 Reasons to the contrary stand in the way of every conclusion a man can come to, and of all his efforts to carry them out. For there is nothing so perfect as not to have some blemish, nor anything so evil as not to be tempered by some good. Whence it happens that many
/" men, being perplexed by every trifling difficulty, rest always in suspense. These are the persons we speak of as over-scrupulous, because they entertain doubts about everything. We ought not to live thus, but, after balancing the disadvantages on both sides, should accept those that weigh least, remembering that no course we can take will in all respects be clear and perfect.
All
214 All men have defects, some more, some fewer. It follows that no friendship, fellowship, or dependent relation can endure unless allowances be made on both sides. We ought therefore to understand one another, and remembering that change will never free us from all imperfections, but only introduce us to new and perhaps greater, should try to endure one another. Let us be careful, however, to be compliant in such matters only as can be put up with, and are in themselves of no great moment.
215 How many things are blamed when done which, could we but see what must have followed had they not been done, would have been praised ! How many things, on the other hand, are praised which, under like circumstances, had been blamed! Be not hasty, therefore, either to commend or condemn on a mere superficial view of things; but if you would form a just and solid judgment, look carefully below what appears to the eye.
216 In this world no man can choose the station into which he shall be born, his surroundings, or the measure of fortune he is to enjoy.
Wherefore G
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
Wherefore, in commending or condemning, we are not to consider in what circumstances we find a man, but the manner in which he bears himself therein. For blame or praise should be awarded according as men behave, and not depend on the condition in which they are placed; as in a theatre we do not think more of him who plays the part of king or lord than of him who plays the part of a servant, but look only to the merit of the performance.
217 Let not the fear of making enemies or of causing displeasure to others keep you from doing what it behoves you to do. For to do his duty brings a man reputation, and this will help him far more than the making a few enemies will hurt him. In this world we must either be dead outright or sometimes do things that give offence. But the same tact which guides us in bestowing pleasure is shown in knowing when and how to do things displeasing; that is to say, that they be done on just occasion, at fit season, with modesty, for honourable causes, and in creditable ways.
218 In this world of ours they manage their affairs well who keep their own interest always
in sight, and measure every action by this
gauge. Mistakes will, however, be made by I
those who do not rightly apprehend wherein
their true interest lies; who, for instance, think
it always to consist in some pecuniary gain
rather than in honour, and in knowing how to
maintain their credit and good name.
219 If he who has been the first to propose a
certain course, or has given an opinion in its
favour, should for any reason change his mind
before the thing be done, it were honesty in
him to say so openly. Nevertheless, where it
is not in his power, or does not directly concern
him to make the correction, he will better con- ~)
suit his interest by holding his peace. For by
unsaying what he has once said he will only
injure his credit, since either what he urged at
first or what he urges afterwards must be con-
tradicted by the result. Whereas, if he stand
by his original opinion, and this, as may happen,
turn out true, he will be judged to have advised
well.
220 I reckon it the duty of a good citizen, should \ his country have fallen into the hands of a 1 tyrant, to endeavour to live with him on such a j
footing
footing that he can venture to persuade him to good courses or dissuade him from evil. For surely it is for the interest of a city that worthy men should at all times exercise influence. And although the ignorant and fanatical politicians of Florence have constantly judged otherwise, they might have recognised how disastrous would have been the government of the Medici had there been none about them but fools or knaves.
221 When enemies who usually have been leagued together against you chance to fall out, to attack one of them in the hope to dispose of him separately is often the occasion for all to unite afresh. It behoves you, therefore, to note carefully what the differences that have arisen between them are, together with all the other conditions and circumstances in which they stand, that you may judge whether it is more for your interest to single out one of them for attack, or to stand aloof and look on while they fight it out among themselves.
222 If leisure alone breed not fantastical humours, without it these can hardly come into existence.
223 Whoso seeks honour and fame in his native city, not by faction or usurpation, but by stfiytng" to be accounted wise and able, and bv rendering good service to his country, is a praiseworthy and useful citizen. Would to God our republic overflowed with ambition such as this ! But pernicious are they who make self-aggrandisement their sole end and aim. For he who does so is held by no tie whether of justice or honour, and will upset everything to reach his goal.
224 He who is not in truth a good citizen cannot long be thought so. Wherefore, though a man might desire rather to seem than to be good, he must strive to be so in reality; otherwise he will not in the end seem so.
225 Men are naturally inclined to good; so that when they draw no gain or advantage from evil, good is more pleasing than evil to all of them. But because their nature is frail, and the occasions inviting to evil infinite, they are readily turned
from
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
from their natural bent by self-interest. For which reason, not to do violence to their nature but to maintain its authority, wise legislators have contrived a spur and a curb in the shape of reward and punishment; and unless these be ,*n usi in a commonwealth, few indeed of its citizens will be found good. Whereof we have - • daily proof in Florence.
226 Should we read or hear it said of any one that, without advantage or profit to himself, he preferred evil to good, we should have to call him rather a beast than a man, as lacking an instinct common to all men by nature.
227 Great defects and inconveniences are inseparable from a free government . And yet the wise and good of our city approve it as a less evil .
228 We may take it, then, that in Florence he who is a wise is also a good citizen; since were he not good, he would not be wise.
229 That generosity which pleases the multitude is very seldom found in the truly wise. Wherefore he who seems generous is less to be commended than he who seems discreet.
230 In commonwealths the people love a just citizen. A wise citizen they rather respect than love.
231 Alas ! how many more reasons there are for believing that our republic must soon fall into decay than there are to persuade us that it will endure for a great while !
232 Whoso has sound sense can make great use of another who has fine parts; far greater than that other can make of him.
233 It does not conflict with the equality of a free government that one citizen should enjoy greater reputation than another, so long as this springs from the general love and reverence wherewith he is regarded, and it is in the power of the people to withhold such distinction at their pleasure. Nay, without similar distinctions a republic can hardly be maintained. Well were it for Florence had her fools learned this lesson !
234 He who has to exercise authority over others must not be too nice or scrupulous in issuing his commands. I do not say that he is to
lay lay aside all scruples, but that in excess they are hurtful.
235 It profits much that you conduct your affairs secretly, but much more that you contrive not to seem secret to your friends. For many men, when they see you unwilling to impart your affairs to them, look on it as a slight and feel affronted.
236 Three things I would willingly see before I die. And yet, though I were to live to a great age, I fear I shall see none of them. I desire to see a well-ordered republic established in Florence; Italy free from all her barbarian invaders; and the world delivered from the tyranny of these rascally priests.
237 Whosoever is not well secured by treaty, or by being himself so strong that in no case can he have ground for fear, acts unwisely if he stands neutral in the wars of other states; since in doing so he will disoblige the vanquished and will rest a prey to the victor. And let him who disregards reasons look to the example of our own city, and to what befell it from remaining neutral in the war which Pope Julius and the
Catholic
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
Catholic King waged against King Louis of
France.
238 If you are resolved to remain neutral, at least arrange terms of neutrality with the side that desires it. For this in itself is a way of taking part with that side, which, if victorious, may perhaps be withheld from harming you by some sense of obligation or scruple of honour.
239 Far higher satisfaction will be found in controlling than in gratifying the passions. For such gratification is brief, and of the body; whereas the satisfaction we feel when passion has been subdued is lasting, and is of the mind and conscience.
240 A good name is more to be desired than riches; but since without riches a good name can now-a-days hardly be preserved, worthy men should seek them, not in excess, but so far as may be needed for acquiring and maintaining credit and influence.
241 We citizens of Florence are mostly poor; yet from our manner of living we all greatly desire riches. For which reason we can hardly pre
serve the freedom of our city; since this appetite makes us pursue our own selfish advantage without thought or heed for the public glory or honour.
242 The blood of citizens is the mortar wherewith the governments of tyrants are cemented. Let every man therefore do what he can that no edifice of this sort be built in his city.
243 Citizens who live in a republic wherein the government, though tainted with some defects, is still a tolerable one, should not seek to change it; since almost always the change will be for the worse. For it is not in the power of him who makes changes to secure that the new government shall exactly conform to his intentions and wishes.
244 Most of the misdeeds done in cities by the great have their origin in suspicion. Wherefore, when once a man has grown great, a city has no cause to thank those who without good occasion conspire against him. For this increases his suspicions, and in consequence the harshness of his tyranny.
245 With the poor malignity may easily be bred
by
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
by misfortune. With the rich it oftenest comes by nature. As a rule, therefore, it is more to be condemned in the rich than in the poor.
246 Whosoever, whether prince or private man, would persuade another of what is false through an envoy or agent, should first deceive that agent. For he who believes his principal to have a thing at heart will act and speak with far more energy and efficacy than if he knew his mission to be merely a feint.
247 Affairs of the first importance often depend for their success on our doing or not doing something that seems of little moment. For which reason we should be cautious and circumspect even in trifles.
248 'Tis hard to make, but easy enough to mar a fine fortune. He therefore who finds himself in the enjoyment of a good, should do his best not to let it slip through his fingers.
249 'Twere folly to be angry with those against whom by reason of their great station you cannot hope to take vengeance. Accordingly, though you know yourself to be foully wronged by them, you must endure and dissemble.
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
250 Since endless vicissitudes occur every hour in warfare, we ought not amid so many changes to be too much elated by favourable tidings, or cast down by adverse. Let this also be a lesson to him to whom opportunities offer themselves in war not to let them slip; for they last for a brief time only.
251 As merchants for the most part break and seamen drown, so is it the common fate of those who govern for long the territories of the Church to fall into disgrace.
252 The Marquis of Pescara once said to me, “Things all men desire rarely come to pass.” If this be true, the reason is that it is the few who commonly set things in motion, and that the ends which they pursue are almost always opposed to the ends and objects of the many.
253 Never contend against religion or against aught else that seems to have dependence upon God. For these are matters concerning which the minds of fools are too much made up to be open to argument.
254 It has been truly said that religion in excess
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
is hurtful to the world, since it weakens men's minds, involves them in an infinity of errors, and withdraws them from many generous and honourable pursuits. In saying this, however, I would not be understood as derogating from the Christian faith or from the veneration due to it, but rather as seeking to confirm and strengthen it by distinguishing what is in excess from what is sufficient, and by inciting men to consider well what they should make account of, and what they may safely disregard.
255 'Tis well to have all the guarantees for good behaviour you can get from your enemy, his promises, his plighted word, the engagements of his friends, and every other assurance. But owing to the perversity of mankind and the changes in circumstances and seasons, there is no safeguard so sure and certain as so to contrive matters that your security shall rest rather on your enemy's want of power than on his want of will to harm you.
256 As things go in this world, you can have no greater good fortune than to see your enemy prostrate at your feet and in your power. To secure which result no means are to be neglected.
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
This, I say, is great good fortune. But it is a finer thing to use this good fortune worthily: I mean by extending mercy and pardon. For this is proper to a generous and lofty soul.
257 These maxims are rules that may be written in books; but the exceptional cases, which, resting upon other grounds, must be dealt with otherwise, scarce admit of being recorded elsewhere than on the tablets of discretion.
258 That place shows a man was a saying much applauded by the ancients, not only because place makes it plain whether a man's capacity be great or small, but also because power and freedom from restraint display more fully the bent of his mind and demonstrate what his true character is. For the higher the station a man fills, the less check or hindrance has he in indulging his natural temper.
259 See that you fall not into disfavour with him who is set over you in your city, nor assume the mode and tenor of your life to be of such a sort that you can count on never coming into his hands. For a thousand unforeseen cases may arise wherein you will be compelled to have recourse to him. Conversely, when one in authority desires to chastise or revenge himself on an inferior, let him not act hastily, but await time and occasion. For if only he go warily, an opportunity will surely come when, without displaying rancour or passion, he may satisfy his desire either wholly or in part.
260 The ruler of a city or people, if he would have them under good control, must be strict in punishing all transgressors, but may use discretion as to the degree of his punishments. For save as regards atrocious crimes, and those in respect of which an example has to be made, commonly it is enough that punishment be inflicted in the proportion of three parts out of four of the appointed penalty.
261 Were servants reasonable and grateful, it were fit and proper that their master should be as bountiful to them as his means admit. But since their nature is commonly the reverse of all this, so that when they have grown rich in your service they either leave or importune you, it is better to be somewhat close-handed in your dealings with them, raising their hopes, but not satisfying them further than may prevent them giving way to despair.
The
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
262 The above maxim is to be so observed that the name you get for not being liberal shall not cause you to be shunned; and this you may easily avoid by extraordinary liberality in one or two cases. For hope has naturally such dominion over men, that a single instance of munificence makes a deeper impression and helps you more than a hundred instances of services insufficiently requited hurts you.
263 Men have a better memory for injuries than for benefits; and even when they do remember a benefit, think of it as less than in truth it was, while they persuade themselves that their deserts are far greater than they are in reality. The contrary holds as regards injuries, for these vex us more than they reasonably should. Accordingly, other conditions being the same, beware of doing one man a pleasure which must necessarily afford equal displeasure to another; for according to the rule above stated, you will lose on the whole more than you gain.
264 You may count more safely on one who has need of you, or who for the time has the same ends to serve, than on one whom you have benefited. For, as a rule, men are ungrateful. If you would not be deceived, make your calculations on this footing.
265 I have noted down the foregoing maxims that you may learn how to live and to rate things at their true worth, not to withdraw you from conferring benefits. For not only is beneficence a noble impulse, and one that springs from a generous nature, but it may also chance to be requited, and that in a degree to make amends for many instances of ingratitude. Nay, it may be believed that the Power which is above us takes delight in generous actions, and therefore will not permit them to remain always unrewarded.
266 Endeavour to make friends, since they will be of service to you at times, in places, and in circumstances in which you least expect it. This is a trite maxim, but none can rightly estimate its value who has not in some extreme need himself experienced its truth.
267 Frank sincerity pleases all men, and is a noble quality, though sometimes hurtful to him who practises it. Simulation, on the other hand, is useful; nay, from the perverse nature of men is often necessary, odious and unseemly though it
be. H
be. I know not therefore which of the two we should prefer. I can believe, however, that a man ought habitually to use the one without wholly renouncing the other. I mean that in everyday affairs he should adhere to the former, so as to obtain a name for openness and candour; and yet, on certain rare and urgent occasions should resort to deception. When a man lives thus, his simulation is the more serviceable and the more likely to succeed, since his reputation for its opposite makes him the more readily trusted.
268 For the above reasons, while I commend him not who passes his whole life in simulating and dissembling, I excuse him who only occasionally resorts to these arts.
269 If you would not have it known that you have done or sought to do some particular thing, even when it has been all but ascertained and published, be sure that it will always be useful to deny it. For a strenuous denial, though it may not convince him who believes or has proof to the contrary, will at least stagger and perplex him.
270 'Tis incredible how much it profits a ruler that
he he observe secrecy in the conduct of his affairs. For besides that were his designs known they might be forestalled or thwarted, the very fact that men are in ignorance of them keeps them in suspense and wonder, and causes them to watch his actions so closely that his slightest gestures give occasion for infinite comment; all which gains him immense reputation. Whosoever, therefore, is in the position I speak of should accustom himself and his ministers to be silent not only as to matters that it is for his interest to conceal, but likewise as to all those which it is not for his advantage to make public.
271 This maxim as to not imparting, your intentions unless from necessity is of general application, because, in addition to all the other injuries it may do you to have your secrets known, you become the slave of those to whom you confide them. But if constrained by necessity to impart your secrets to any man, see that you leave him as little time as possible to think them over. For where much time is given a thousand evil thoughts suggest themselves.
272 To give vent now and then to his feelings,
whether whether of pleasure or discontent, is a great ease to a man's heart. Still it is dangerous; wherefore, however hard it may be, it is wise to abstain.
273 When ambassador in Spain at the court of that wise and renowned king, Ferdinand of Aragon, I observed that when he desired to engage in any new enterprise, or to carry out any other matter of importance, it was not his custom first to publish and afterwards to justify his intentions, but to do exactly the reverse. For before it was known that he meditated any measure, he contrived to have it everywhere proclaimed that, for such and such reasons, here was a thing it behoved the king to take in hand. Accordingly, when afterwards he disclosed that he meant to do what was recognised by all to be necessary and right, his resolve was accepted with incredible applause and favour.
274 Even they who, ascribing everything to prudence and capacity, would seek to shut out fortune, cannot deny it to be a happy chance that opportunities should at the right moment present themselves for displaying to advantage those talents or qualities wherein
a
a man excels. For we see from experience that the same qualities are differently esteemed at different times, and that things which are pleasing if done to-day may displease if done to-morrow.
275 I would not discourage those who, kindled by love of their country, are ready to risk their lives to restore its freedom. But this I do say, that he is unwise who for his own ends seeks to change the government of our city. For this is a perilous task, and experience shows that but few such attempts succeed. And even when they are successful, it rarely happens that you gain by the change anything like the advantages you looked for, while you are sure to be involved in endless trouble and anxiety, having constantly to fear that those whom you have driven away may return and overthrow you.
276 Labour not to effect changes that only substitute one face for another. For what profits it if you suffer at the hands of Martin the very same wrongs and injuries which before you had to endure from Peter? What satisfaction, for instance, do you find in seeing Messer Goro
make make his exit, when another of the same quality enters in his room?
277 Whoso would meddle in plots should bear in mind that nothing is more fatal to their success than the endeavour to make them too safe. For to this end longer time is needed, more men must be privy, more interests must be considered; all of which circumstances give occasion for your scheme being discovered. Nay, it may further be believed that Fortune, within whose control such matters lie, is displeased with him who seeks to withdraw himself from her power and to make himself secure. I maintain, therefore, that it is better to run some risk in carrying out your plot than to be too careful of safety.
278 Draw not where you have no assets, nor discount prospective gains, for often these may not be realised; and we see the common cause of the bankruptcy of great merchants to be this, that anticipating large future returns, they draw bills of exchange bearing high interest which have to be met at a fixed date. But frequently either the expected profits fall short, or are deferred beyond the time intended, so
that that the enterprise you had embarked in as advantageous becomes your ruin.
279 Distrust those who are constantly telling you that they have quitted public life through love of peace and quiet, and because they are weary of ambition. For nearly always they have far other thoughts in their hearts, and are brought to this retirement either through pique or from folly, and against their desire. And of this we have daily proof. For no sooner does the narrowest opening for a return to greatness offer itself to men of this sort, than relinquishing their so much lauded tranquillity, they throw themselves upon it as greedily as fire seizes upon flax.
2 So Should your affairs have fallen into disorder, consider and weigh the matter well before you go to prison. For though your case be a hard one to clear up, it is incredible how many things a diligent and zealous advocate will think of to effect this end; and the smallest chink will let in a flood of light.
281 Like other men, I have desired honours and preferments, and hitherto, thanks to God and
my
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
my good fortune, I have obtained them beyond my hopes. Yet never have I found in any of these things the satisfaction I had looked for. A warning to him who well considers it to stay his pursuit of things all men covet.
282 Great station is coveted by all, because whatsoever is good in it shows on the surface, while the evil is hid below. Were any one to see it as it is, his desire to possess it might perhaps be less. For of a truth it is replete with dangers, rivalries, endless troubles and annoyances. But what makes it sought after, even by pure hearts, is the longing we all have to surpass our fellows, for this reason more than any other, that in nothing else can we resemble God.
283 Things we do not anticipate move us beyond comparison more than those that are foreseen. Wherefore I pronounce that to be a great and resolute spirit which stands undismayed amid sudden dangers and disasters; for this in my judgment is the rarest excellence.
284 When a thing is done, could we but know what would have followed had it been left undone, or had the contrary been done, we should find that many things men blame or praise deserve a very different judgment.
285 There can be no doubt that the older men grow, the more prone they are to avarice. The cause is said to be that their minds lose their vigour. I think this reason insufficient, since he must be a very weak-minded old man who does not see that our needs lessen as our years multiply. Moreover, I note that in old men, at any rate in many of them, luxury (so far as appetite goes, though not as regards enjoyment), cruelty, and other vices are constantly on the increase. The explanation may perhaps be that the longer a man lives the more he becomes used to the things of this world, and as a consequence the more he loves them.
285 It is due to the same cause that the older a man grows the more grievous it appears to him to die, and the more it would seem from his acts and thoughts as though he felt safe to live for ever.
287 It is commonly believed, and we often see instances of it, that gains ill-gotten are not transmitted beyond a third generation. St.
Augustine
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
Augustine says that God permits their enjoyment to him who acquires them in return for whatsoever good he may have done during his lifetime, but that they never pass much further by reason of the sentence God has pronounced against wealth dishonestly come by. I once told my father that I thought there was another explanation, namely, that he who acquires wealth, being commonly brought up poor, loves what he gains for himself, and understands the arts whereby it may be kept; whereas, his sons and grandsons being bred up in riches, and neither knowing what it is to get wealth, nor possessed of the arts and methods for preserving it, readily waste it.
288 The longing to have children cannot be blamed, since it is natural. Yet I say boldly that it is a kind of happiness not to have them. For even he whose children are good and sensible has undoubtedly more anxiety from them than comfort. This I have seen to be the case with my own father, who in his day was cited in Florence as an example of a sire blessed with good sons. Think then how it must fare with him who has worthless offspring.
289 I do not wholly condemn the Turkish method of administering the law in civil matters; though it be sudden rather than summary. For he who determines with his eyes shut may likely enough decide half his cases justly, while he saves the parties time and expense. Our own tribunals move so slowly, that often it were better for him who has right on his side to have the cause given against him on the first hearing than to win it after all the cost and trouble he is put to. Besides, from ignorance and dishonesty in our lawyers, as well as from obscurity in our laws, even with us black is too often made to appear white.
290 He mistakes who supposes that the matters which the law leaves to the discretion of the judge are left to be dealt with at his mere will and pleasure; it was never the intention of the law to empower the judge to dispense favour. But since it is impossible, owing to the diversity of circumstances, to lay down a precise rule for every particular case, the law is obliged to leave to the discretion of the judge, that is to say to his equity and conscience, to determine, after considering everything, as seems to him
most most just. This wideness of the law releases the judge from having to render an account before the courts, because, as his action is not regulated by the law, he can always excuse himself. Still it is never left within his power to give away the property of one suitor to another.
291 We see from experience that masters make little account of their servants, and dismiss or ill-treat them as their humour or interest prompts. Those, therefore, are wise servants who make .their masters a return in kind, always, be it understood, maintaining their integrity and honour.
292 Let young men be persuaded that experience teaches many lessons, and more to persons of large intelligence than to those of little. Whoso thinks this over will readily understand the cause.
293 Though you be of the keenest discernment, there are certain things you can never arrive at or rightly apprehend without that experience which alone teaches them. This hint will be best appreciated by him who has had much
business business to transact, for he will have learned for himself how good and useful an instructor experience is.
294 The prince who savours somewhat of the prodigal is undoubtedly more popular than one who inclines to be miserly. And yet the contrary should be the case. For while the miser takes from no man, the prodigal is obliged to resort to extortion and rapacity; so that there are many more who suffer from his exactions than there are who profit by his bounty. The explanation I believe to be, that hope has greater influence over men than fear; and that there are more who hope to gain something from the prodigal prince than there are who fear being oppressed by him.
295 To be well looked on by your brethren and kinsfolk brings you numberless benefits, whereof, because they do not show themselves one by one, you take no heed, but which in many ways forward your interests and cause you to be held in esteem. Strive, therefore, to preserve this esteem and this good-will, even at the cost of some inconvenience. And herein men often err, being moved by the petty annoyances that
are are seen, while they disregard the great advantages that are unseen.
296 Whoso has author1ty and lordship over others can stretch and extend them even beyond the limit of his strength. For his subjects do not discern or accurately measure what he can or cannot do. Nay, often from imagining his power to be greater than in truth it is, they submit to him in things to which he never could have compelled them.
297 In my youth I believed that no amount of reflection would enable me to see more in a thing than I took in at a glance. But experience has shown me this opinion to be utterly false; and you may laugh at any one who maintains the contrary. The longer we reflect, the clearer things grow and the better we understand them.
298 When occasion offers for obtaining what you desire, seize it at once. For the things of this world are so fleeting that you never can say you have a thing till you grasp it in your hand. For the same reason, when you are threatened with anything that displeases you, try to put it off as long as you can. For we see
every eve1y hour that time brings opportunities which may free you from your troubles. And this is the meaning of the proverb, which the wise are said to have always on their lips, that we are to use the beneftts of time.
299 Some men easily hope what they desire. Others can never believe a thing theirs until they have secured it. And doubtless it is better to hope little than much; for excessive hopefulness slackens effort, and is the cause of far greater vexation should your designs fail.
300 Would you know the thoughts of tyrants, read Cornelius Tacitus where he makes mention of the last conversations that Augustus had with Tiberius.
301 On due reflection, you will perceive that the same Cornelius Tacitus teaches admirably how one who lives under a tyrant should comport himself.
302 How wise his words who said, Ducunt volentes fata, nolentes trahunt. Every day we have such experience of their truth that to me it seems nothing was ever said better.
A
303 A tyrant will spare no pains to discover your secret mind—I mean as to whether or no you are contented with his government—by watching your movements, by questioning those who converse with you, and by arguing with you himself on all sorts of subjects, putting cases and asking your opinion. Wherefore, if you would not have him read your thoughts, be well on your guard against the means he uses, avoiding conduct that might rouse his suspicions, being careful what you say even to intimates, and speaking and replying to him in such fashion that he can draw no conclusion. Wherein you will succeed if you keep it fixed in your mind that he is doing all he can to circumvent and see through you.
304 If you be of great station in your country and live under a brutal and bloodthirsty tyrant, I know of no advice that can profit you save that you withdraw into exile. But when the tyrant, either from prudence or from necessity and the circumstances of his position, conducts himself discreetly, you should seek, being a man of quality, to be thought of importance, and to be a person of courage, yet of a tranquil temper, and not desirous of change unless forced upon you. For in this case the tyrant will caress you,
and and endeavour to give you no cause for seeking to bring about changes. But he will not act thus if he know you to be of a restless humour; for then, judging it impossible for you to keep quiet, he will always be contriving an occasion to crush you.
305 In the case above mentioned, it is better not to be of the tyrant's most familiar intimates; for so he will not only caress you more, but in many respects will take fewer liberties with you than with his own friends. In this way you may Bnjoy his greatness, and yourself grow great on his fall. This, however, is not safe advice for any man to follow who is not of great standing in his country.
306 There is a wide difference between having your subjects discontented and having them desperate. For desperate men think of nothing but changes, and seek them even to their peril. Discontented men, though in truth they desire change, do not invite occasions for it, but await them.
307 Good government is impossible without severity, for the frowardness of men demands it.
But
I
But with severity you must use address, and do all you can to have it believed that cruelty is not pleasing to you, and that you only resort to it because you are obliged, and for the public good.
308 We should look to substance, not to appearances and to the surface of things. Yet it is incredible how much favour smooth words and empty compliments will bring you among men. The reason I believe to be that every one seems to himself to deserve more than is really his due, and in consequence is vexed if he see you do not value him as he thinks he merits.
309 It is honest and manly never to promise what you do not mean to perform. Nevertheless, since men are not ruled by reason, he to whom you deny a thing, though on good grounds, will commonly rest dissatisfied. It is otherwise with him who is liberal of his promises. For many things may happen making it unnecessary for him to fulfil what he has promised, and in this way he gives satisfaction without putting himself about. Nay, even when it comes to performance he is seldom left without some excuse, and many men are so simple that they let themselves be
cajoled cajoled with words. Still, to break faith involves so much discredit as outweighs any advantage you draw from it. Seek therefore to amuse with answers of general encouragement, and as far as possible avoid committing yourself by positive engagements.
310 Avoid all such conduct as may injure and cannot benefit you. Accordingly, when there is nothing to be gained by it, and you are constrained by no necessity, never, either before his face or behind his back, say things of a man that will offend him. For it were folly to make enemies without some end to serve. This maxim I would have you remember, for nearly every one is guilty of this sort of levity.
311 We call him foolhardy who rushes upon dangers without heed to consequences. Him we call brave who, recognising dangers, frankly encounters them, whether on the spur of necessity or honour.
312 Many imagine that the wise man, since he discerns all dangers, can never be brave. I, on the contrary, am of opinion that no timid man can be wise. For he who thinks more of a
danger danger than he ought, must lack sense. But to clear up the point, which is somewhat obscure, I say that not all dangers are realised; for some a man will escape by his vigilance, address, or valour, while chance will dispose of others in a thousand accidental ways. Accordingly, he who discerns dangers is not to assume them all as certain; but prudently distinguishing which of them he may hope to overcome by himself, and against which of them he may hope to be aided by Fortune, should be of good heart, nor ever withdraw from an honourable and manly enterprise through fear that he will encounter all the perils which he knows to lie on the road.
313 He errs who says that learning hurts men's brains. For though this may perhaps be true of him who has a weak brain, where the brain is sound, learning makes it perfect; excellence of letters joined to excellence of nature forming a noble whole.
314 Not for their own advantage were princes first ordained, since no man would have submitted himself to a gratuitous servitude, but in the interest of the people at large, to the end that they might be well governed. Accordingly,
when
when a prince ceases to'consider his people, he is no longer a prince, but a tyrant
315 Avarice in a prince is incomparably more hateful than in a private man; for as he has larger means of giving, he withholds proportionally more. Besides, while the property of the private man is absolutely his own, for his own use, and in his power to deal with as he pleases without just cause of offence to any, all that the prince has is given him to the use and benefit of others; so that in keeping it to himself he robs others of their due.
316 I maintain that the Duke of Ferrara, who busies himself in trade, not only lessens himself thereby, but is a tyrant, in that he does what it is the business of private men, and not his to do; and in this way offends as much against the people as they would against him were they to interfere with what is the office of the prince alone.
317 By him who well considers the matter, all states will be found to have had their origin in violence; nor, save as regards republics, so far as their own territory extends and no further, is there any
dominion dominion that is legitimate in its beginnings; not even that of the Emperor. For this last is founded on the authority of the Romans, who were the greatest usurpers of all Nor do I except from this rule the priests, who, to keep us under, resort to a twofold violence, using at once both spiritual weapons and temporal.
318 The affairs of this world are so shifting and depend on so many accidents, that it is hard to form any judgment concerning the future; nay, we see from experience that the forecasts even of the wise almost always turn out false. Wherefore I commend not the prudence of those who renounce a present though less good through fear of a future but greater evil, unless the evil be very near or very certain. For since what you fear is often not realised, you may find that you have sacrificed what gave you pleasure to a groundless alarm. Still it is a wise saying di cosa nasce cosa, one thing leads to another.
319 In arguments of state I have often found men judge wrongly from looking to what this or the other prince ought in reason to do, and not to what his temper and character will prompt him to do. He, for instance, who would form a just
opinion opinion as to how the King of France will act, ought rather to consider what are the habits and disposition of a Frenchman than what the course a prudent man might be expected to take.
320 I have often said, and say again, that a man of great parts, who knows to make good use of his time, has no cause to complain of life being short. For he can give his mind to an infinite variety of business, and save time by knowing how to spend it profitably.
321 Whoso would be employed must never relax his hold on business. For one employment follows on another, not only because the first opens the way to the second, but also because the mere fact of his being employed gives a man a name as one fit to employ. Here again the proverb di cosa nasce cosa will be seen to apply.
322 It was no easy matter to excogitate these maxims, but it is harder still to observe them. For men do not always act on what they know. Accordingly, if you would be guided by them, you must subdue your nature and learn right habits. In this way you will be able not only
to to act as these maxims teach, but to obey in whatsoever else reason enjoins, and that without effort.
323 He will not marvel at the abject temper of our citizens, who reads in Cornelius Tacitus how the Romans themselves, accustomed to rule the world and to live in so great glory, grew under their emperors so basely slavish, that even the haughty and tyrannical Tiberius sickened at their servility.
324 If displeased with any man, do all you can to prevent his seeing it, for otherwise he will become estranged. And occasions often arise when he might and would have served you had you not lost him by showing your dislike. Of this I have had experience to my own profit. For once and again I have felt ill-disposed towards some one who not being aware of my hostility has afterwards helped me when I needed help and proved my good friend.
325 Things fated to perish not by violence but by a gradual wasting, often hold out much longer than at first seemed possible; not merely because their decay is slower than was counted
on, on, but also because men, if stubborn to endure, will do and suffer things beyond belief. Accordingly, we find that a war which has to be brought to an end by famine, failure of ammunition, want of money, or the like, always lasts much longer than was expected. In like manner the life of the hectic patient is constantly prolonged beyond the time anticipated by the physicians and those about him. So too the merchant who is eaten up by usury will keep his feet for an inconceivable time before he breaks.
326 In your intercourse with the great, never suffer yourself to be cajoled by those caresses and surface civilities wherewith they are wont to lure men whither they please, that they may strangle them. And the harder it is to resist, the more must you be on your guard, and keeping cool and collected, avoid being carried off your feet by their attentions.
327 You can have no higher excellence than greatly to esteem honour. He who does so will fear no danger, nor be guilty of any unworthy deed. Hold to this, and it can scarce happen but that all else shall go well with you. Expertus loquor.
You
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
328 You may laugh at those who are always talking of liberty. I will not say at all of them, yet I except but few. For if these men thought their fortunes would be mended under a tyranny, they would rush to it post-haste. With almost all men regard for their own interest prevails, and few indeed are they who know the worth of glory and honour.
329 I have always found it hard to persuade myself that God would suffer the sons of Duke Lodovico Sforza to enjoy the state of Milan; not so much because their father wickedly usurped it, as because in effecting this, he brought about the servitude and ruin of all Italy, and so many consequent calamities throughout Christendom.
330 I maintain that a good and patriotic citizen should seek to stand well with a tyrant, not merely to secure his own safety, he being in danger if he be held in suspicion, but also for the welfare of his country. For in this way he gains opportunity of forwarding by his actions and counsels many useful measures, and hindering many that are the reverse. And they are fools who blame him. For both they and their city would be in a miserable plight, if the tyrant had none but worthless men about him.
331 While we could not hope to subjugate Siena, it was for our interest that it should have wise rulers. For a prudent government would always seek to be on good terms with us, and allowing itself to be guided by reason rather than transported by the innate hatred which the Sienese bear us, would never wish war to be brought upon Tuscany. But now that the Papacy is with us, it were more to our advantage that Siena had turbulent rulers; since then it might more readily drop into our mouths.
332 Who does not see that if the present Pope take Ferrara, it will be the aim of the next to make himself master of Tuscany. For the kingdom of Naples being in the hands of powerful princes, its conquest presents too many difficulties.
333 Under a popular government it is for the interest of families like ours, that what are called the Great Houses should be preserved; for as these are hateful to the people, we are in consequence favourably regarded by all. But
were were they to be destroyed, the hatred which the people bear to them would be turned against us.
334 My father gave Piero Soderini wise counsel when he recommended that of our own accord we should recall the Medici as private citizens. For in this way we should have got rid of our exiles, who are the worst evil a state can suffer from; and at the same time have deprived the family of the Medici of their influence both within the city and without. Within the city, because on returning there, and finding themselves on a mere equality with others, they would not have desired to remain. Without, because those princes who believed them to have a great following at home, on seeing them come back and no longer powerful, would have ceased to hold them in account But to carry out this advice successfully needed perhaps a more spirited and courageous magistrate than was Piero Soderini.
335 It is the nature of a people, as it is of individual men, to be always striving to better their condition. It is prudence, therefore, to refuse their first demands. For by yielding these
you you do not bring them to a stay, but on the contrary encourage them to ask more, and with more urgency than at first. The more you give them to drink, the fiercer grows their thirst.
336 Past events throw light on future, because the world has always been the same as it now is, and all that is now, or shall be hereafter, has been in time past. Things accordingly repeat themselves, but under changed names and colours, so that it is not every one who can recognise them, but only he who is discerning and who notes and considers them diligently.
337 Doubtless the man of ordinary parts has more enjoyment in this world, and lives a longer, and in some sort a happier life, than he who is of a loftier intellect. For a noble mind is likely enough to fret and torment its owner. But the first partakes more of the brute than of the man. The other transcends human nature and approaches the divine.
338 If you look to it closely, you shall find that not only do words, manners, and fashions in
dress dress alter from age to age, but, what is more remarkable, that men's tastes and inclinations alter. A like diversity may be seen in different countries in the same age. I do not lay so much stress on the difference in manners, for this may result from difference in training, as on the variation in men's tastes and appetites, even in respect of food.
339 Enterprises which, undertaken at a wrong moment, are difficult or impossible, become easy enough when aided by time and opportunity. Those who enter on them unseasonably will not only fail in their efforts then, but will endanger subsequent success at a time when it might be looked for. To be accounted wise you must be patient.
340 In my governments, when disputes came before me which for any reason I desired should be accommodated, it was my custom to say nothing about an accord, but by interposing adjournments and delays to bring the parties to propose it themselves. In this way, what would have been rejected had I suggested it at the first, has had the ground so prepared for it, that when the right moment
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
came, I have been entreated by both sides to arbitrate between them.
341 It is no marvel that a governor who frequently resorts to cruelty and harshness should make himself feared. For his subjects are likely enough to fear one who has it in his power to use violence against them, or to ruin them, and who is not slow to smite. Those governors I commend who, while they inflict few severities or punishments, yet know how to acquire and preserve a name for strictness.
342 I do not say that a ruler is never to imbue his hands in blood, but that he is not to do so without grave cause, and that in most instances he loses more than he gains by it. For not only does he offend those on whom he lays hands, but displeases many besides; and although he thus gets rid of some one enemy or obstacle, he does not thereby destroy the seed; so that others take their place, and often, as with the heads of Hydra, seven for one.
343 Remember what I said before that these maxims are not to be observed indiscriminately, since in particular cases, to which a different reason applies, they will not hold good. What these cases are cannot be defined by any fixed rule, nor is any book to be found that will teach them. This light must be imparted first by nature and then by experience.
344 1 am convinced that in no office or position of authority is greater prudence or capacity needed than in the command of an army. For infinite are the things for which a commander has to provide and issue orders beforehand, and infinite the accidents and difficulties which present themselves from hour to hour; so that of a truth he needs have more eyes than Argus. Not only for its importance, therefore,but also for the prudence it demands, I hold that as compared with this every other charge is insignificant.
345 To speak of the people is to speak of a madman; of a monster stuffed with inconsistencies and errors; whose empty judgments lie as far from truth, as Spain, according to Ptolemy, from India.
346 My nature has always disposed me to desire the overthrow of the government of the Church.
But But fortune has so willed it that my relations with two Popes have been of a kind to force me to labour and strive for their advancement. Were it not for this, I should have loved Martin Luther more than myself, in the hope that his following might destroy, or at any rate clip the wings of, this vile tyranny of the priests.
347 It is one thing to be brave, another to face danger out of regard to honour. In both cases the danger is recognised, but the brave man believes he can defend himself from it, and but for this confidence would not await it. The other may dread danger more than he ought, yet stands his ground: not that he is not afraid, but that he is resolved to suffer hurt sooner than shame.
348 It often happens in our city that they who have been most forward in aiding another to get possession of the government presently become his enemies. The cause is said to be, that as men of this sort are commonly persons of rank and parts, and possibly of a turbulent temper, he who has the government in his hands comes to look on them with distrust. It may also be that, from seeming to themselves to have
deserved deserved much, such persons often aspire to more than it is fit they should have, and are offended if they do not get it; whence there comes afterwards hostility on the one side and suspicion on the other.
349 When he who has promoted or has been the prime cause of my advancement would have me govern as he pleases, in seeking thus to use the authority he has gained for me, he cancels his former benefits and gives me just cause for breaking with him; nor am I, because I do so, to be called ungrateful.
350 Let none claim praise for not doing or for doing those things which, if he did or omitted to do, he would deserve blame.
351 The Castilian proverb says, “ The rope breaks where it is weakest.” In any rivalry or contention with one who is more powerful or more feared than you, you are sure to come off worst, even though right, honour, and gratitude should all demand the contrary. For men are wont to look more to their interest than to their duty.
352 I have not the art of showing myself to
advantage, advantage, or of obtaining credit for what in truth I lack. It would be better for me if I had. For it is incredible how much it helps you that men should think and believe you to be a person of importance, and how, on the merest rumour of your being so, they run after you without requiring further proof.
353 I always maintain it to be more surprising that the Florentines should have acquired the scanty territory they possess than that the Venetians or any other of the Italian powers should have gained their more extended dominions. For everywhere throughout Tuscany, even in its smallest towns, liberty had taken so strong a hold, that all were enemies to the aggrandisement of Florence. It is otherwise where you are surrounded by peoples used to servitude; for to these it matters so little whether they be ruled by one lord or by another, that they are never roused to any permanent or stubborn resistance. Besides which, we have, and always have had, a formidable obstacle to our growth in the nearness of the Church, who, from the depth to which she has struck her roots, has greatly hindered the spread of our dominion.
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Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
354 All political writers are agreed that the government of a sole prince, when he is good, is preferable to the government of an oligarchy or of a democracy, assuming these likewise to be good. And the reasons are obvious. Similarly they are agreed that the government of a sole prince sooner than the others falls away from being good, and when bad is the worst of all, especially where it passes by inheritance, since a good and wise father is rarely succeeded by a son like himself. I wish, however, that these writers, after considering all the conditions and risks, had told us which
. form of government a new city should most desire; I mean, whether to be subject to the rule of one, of many, or of a few.
355 A master knows less than any one dse about his servants, and a prince's knowledge of his subjects is in like ratio. For these do not open themselves before him, as they do before others, but, on the contrary, seek to cloak themselves, and to appear to him of a character different from their true one.
356 If you live at court and are the follower of some great lord, and would be employed by him in his affairs, endeavour to keep yourself always in his sight. For every hour things will occur to be done which he will commit to him whom he sees, or who is at hand, and not to you if he has to seek or send for you. And whosoever misses an opening, however small, will often lose the introduction or approach to matters of greater moment.
357 Those Friars who preach of predestination and the like thorny articles of our faith seem to me to lack wisdom; since it were better not to give men occasion to think of things they can hardly understand than to awaken doubts in their minds which afterwards we can only silence by saying, “ So our faith declareth; thus must we believe.”
358 In Florence, though you be a good citizen and no enemy to liberty, yet should you in any way connect yourself with a government like that of the Medici, you come to be ill-thought of and ill-liked by the people. Such disfavour you should as far as possible avoid on account of the many inconveniences it brings with it. Still I maintain that you ought not for this reason to withdraw altogether from such a
connection, connection, or forego the benefits to be derived from it. For unless you have incurred a name for rapacity, or given offence to some powerful man or class of men, when the government is afterwards changed and the people relieved from the causes that made you obnoxious, your other offences will be purged, and your unpopularity in time wear off; nor will you be visited with that disgrace or ruin which at the first you may have feared. For all that, these are things that weigh with men, and sometimes lead them to make mistakes; and at any rate it cannot be denied that the person who has compromised himself by the like relations loses the clear reputation which another who stands clear of them will preserve.
359 Again I say that masters make little account of their servants, and to secure any trifling end of their own are ready to drag them through the dirt. Wherefore those servants are wise who do the like by their masters, so long as they do nothing contrary to integrity or honour.
360 He who knows himself to be the favourite of fortune may join in any enterprise with greater audacity. But it should be remembered that
not not only may fortune vary at different times, but also at the same time may vary as to different things. For he who considers it will see that sometimes the same person is fortunate in affairs of one sort and yet unfortunate in those of another. For myself, up to this 3rd day of February 1523, I have in many things enjoyed extreme good fortune; yet have not had the same success in commerce, nor in regard to those honours I had set my heart on; for things I have sought after have seemed to withdraw to a greater distance, while those I did not care to possess have thrust themselves upon me.
361 Man has no worse enemy than himself, for almost all the many troubles, dangers, and afflictions he has to endure have no other source than his own excessive desires.
362 The things of this world are never at a stay, but tend continually towards that path whereby, in virtue of their nature, they must come to their end. Yet is their progress slower than we reckon for. For we measure them with reference to our lives, which are brief, not to their term, which is long. Their march, then,
is is slower than ours, nay, from their nature so slow, that though they move, we often cannot detect their motion. For which reason the judgments we form concerning them are often false.
363 Were wealth sought after for no other end than that it might be enjoyed, the desire for it would be the stamp of a base and ignoble mind. But this life of ours being so corrupt as it is, he who seeks reputation is forced to desire wealth; for through it those virtues shine and are held in price which in a poor man are little known and lightly esteemed.
364 I know not whether he is to be called fortunate to whom a great opportunity presents itself once only; since unless he be extremely prudent he will not know to turn it to account. But he assuredly must be thought most fortunate to whom the same great opportunity offers itself twice; for he were indeed a fool if he knew not how to use it the second time. On a second occasion, therefore, everything is to be ascribed to fortune; on a first, prudence also has a part.
365 In a commonwealth liberty is but the hand
maiden maiden of justice, being established for no other end than that one man may not be oppressed by another. And could we be sure that justice would be administered under the government of one or of a few, we should have no great cause to regret the absence of liberty. And this is the reason why the wise men and philosophers of antiquity did not commend free governments beyond others, but preferred those that provided best for the maintenance of the laws and of justice.
366 When tidings brought me on doubtful authority have in themselves an air of truth, or are such as might reasonably be looked for, I yield them scant credit. For men easily invent what is credible or is expected. I listen more readily when the news is out of the common and such as none foresaw; since it is unlikely that any one should invent or ask belief for what no one thinks of. And of this I have often had experience.
367 How lucky are the astrologers ! For although their art, whether from its own imperfections or from the shortcomings of those who practise it, be a vain thing, they obtain more credit from
one one prediction that comes true than they lose by a hundred that turn out false; whereas with other men, to be found out in a single lie destroys confidence in them even when they speak the truth. This comes from the great eagerness men have to know the future; for lacking other means for obtaining such knowledge, they yield a ready belief to any one who pretends he can impart it, as the sick man trusts the physician who promises him health.
368 Pray God you be not found on the losing side; for however blameless you may be, you will always incur discredit. Nor can you go about through all the streets and marketplaces trying to clear yourself. On the other hand, he who has taken the winning side will always obtain praise, however little he deserves it.
369 In private affairs it is, as every one knows, an advantage to have possession, though the legal right is not thereby altered, and the procedure of the courts and the means for obtaining redress are fixed and settled. But in matters depending upon public policy or on the will of those who rule, the advantage is incomparably less. For not having to contend against immutable principles of justice, nor against tribunals that determine in accordance therewith, a thousand occasions every day present themselves, of which an adversary seeking to oust you may easily make use.
370 He who would be loved by his superiors must show them that he regards them with respect and reverence. And if he err on this point, let it be on the side of excess rather than of defect. For nothing gives more offence to a superior than the notion that he has not received the attention or consideration which he thinks his due.
371 It was a cruel ordinance of the Syracusans, whereof Livy makes mention, that even the daughters of tyrants should be put to death. And yet there was reason in it too. For on the extinction of a tyrant those who were satisfied to live under him will set up if they can another in his room, though they had to make him of wax. And since it is not easy to give reputation to a new ruler, they will avail themselves of any relic that survives of the former one. Wherefore a city that has newly escaped from
a a tyranny is never altogether secure of its freedom unless it exterminates the whole race and seed of the tyrant. I say this absolutely and without reserve of the male offspring; as regards the female, I distinguish, in respect of circumstances, and in respect of the character of the women themselves, and of their cities.
372 I have said already that governments cannot be made secure by cutting off heads, since the effect of this, as is told of Hydra, is rather to multiply enemies. Yet there are many instances of governments being cemented with blood as houses with lime. No rule can be given for distinguishing these contrary cases. This must be left to the sagacity and discernment of him who has to act.
373 We cannot all have the station or employment we covet, but commonly must content ourselves with what fate has thrown in our way, or what conforms to the condition in which we are born. True merit, accordingly, lies in doing what we have to do well, and as befits our means; as in a play, he is no less applauded who acts well the part of a servant than he who wears the robes of a king. In
short, short, each in his own station may do himself honour and deserve praise.
374 Every man in this world, be he whom you will, commits mistakes, whence greater or less harm will follow as the accidents and circumstances attending them may determine. Those men, however, are fortunate who happen to mistake in matters of less moment, and whence less mischief flows.
375 It is great happiness for a man to be able so to live that he need neither suffer injury from, nor inflict it upon others. But if he be so placed that he must either suffer or inflict injury, let him choose the course that is most to his advantage. For what we do to escape injury has the same justification as what we do after injury received. Nevertheless you must be prudent in discriminating circumstances, nor on a groundless alarm persuade yourself that you are forced to forestall. And when, in truth, you fear no danger, you are not to allege false fears in order to justify violence committed through greed or malice.
376 The family of the Medici, for all their great
ness, ness, have now more difficulty to retain their hold on the government of Florence than their ancestors, though only private citizens, had to gain it. And this because the city had not then tasted the sweets of liberty and popular institutions, but, on the contrary, had always been in the power of a few; so that he who ruled the state never had the whole people for his enemies, since it mattered little to them whether they saw the government in one man's hand or in another's. But the memory of the popular government, which lasted from 1494 to 1512, is so rooted in the hearts of the Florentines, that save those few who hope under a despotism to have advantages over others, all are hostile to him who is master of the state, thinking his authority to be unjustly taken from them.
377 Let no man scheme to make himself supreme in Florence who is not of the line of the Medici and backed besides by the power of the Church. None else, be he who he may, has such influence or following that he can hope to reach this height, unless indeed he be carried to it by the free voice of the people in search of a constitutional chief; as happened to Piero Soderini. If any therefore aspire to such honours, not being
of of the house of the Medici, let him affect the popular cause.
378 The wishes and resolves of the people are so unstable, and formed so much oftener at random than upon reflection, that he who directs his course of life by no other aim than to become great with their help shows little sense. For his success depends on chance rather than wisdom.
379 In Florence he who has not the qualifications for becoming head of affairs were a fool to involve himself so far with any government as to peril his whole fortune or its success; since what he may gain is as nothing to what he may lose. Nor let any man incur the risk of exile. For since our city is not divided into factions like the Adorni and Fregosi of Genoa, none will come forward to take his part, and he will be forced to lie abroad without money or credit; nay, may be reduced to beg for a livelihood. Of which fate, to those who remember him, Bernardo Rucellai will be a sufficient example. This consideration alone should teach us to temporise, and so to conduct ourselves towards the head of the state that he shall have no ground to suspect us or to treat us as enemies.
I
380 I would be ready enough to labour for changes in a government that I disliked could I hope to effect them by myself alone. But when I remember that I must combine with others, and for the most part with fools or knaves, who neither know how to be silent nor how to act, nothing disgusts me more than to think of changes.
381 No two men could have been more unlike in character than the Popes Julius and Clement. For while the former was of great and even excessive courage, ardent, impulsive, frank, and open, the latter was of a temper inclining rather to timidity, most patient, moderate, and withal deceitful. And yet from natures so opposite the same results, in the shape of great achievements, could be looked for. Because in the hands of great masters patience and impetuosity are alike fitted to effect important ends; the one operating by a sudden onslaught, breaking down all opposition; the other seeking to wear out by delay and to conquer with the aid of time and opportunity. So that where the one hinders, the other helps, and conversely. But were it possible for a man to combine the two natures, he would indeed be divine. As this, however, can hardly happen, I believe that, all things considered, sidered, greater results are to be obtained by moderation and patience than by impetuosity and daring.
382 Although we act on the best advice, yet, so uncertain is the future, the results are often contrary. Still we are not on that account to give ourselves up like beasts a prey to Fortune, but like men to walk by Reason. And he who is truly wise should be better pleased to have been guided by good advice though the result be untoward, than to have prospered in following evil counsel.
383 Whoso in Florence would be well liked by the people, must avoid a name for ambition, nor betray, even in the most trivial matters of everyday life, any desire to appear greater, grander, or more refined than his fellows. For in a city which has its foundation in equality, and brims over with jealousy, every man must needs be odious who is suspected of wishing to stand on a different level from the rest, or to deviate from the common mode of living.
384 In the matter of economy, the main point, no doubt, is to retrench all superfluous outlay. Still
it
L
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
it seems to me that much shrewdness may be shown in getting greater advantages than others at the same cost, and, as is vulgarly said, making your groat go as far as another man's sixpence.
385 Remember that although the man who is earning money may well spend something more than he who earns none, still it were folly to spend largely on the strength of your earnings if you have not first laid by a fair amount of capital. Opportunity for earning does not last for ever; and if while it does last you do not make the most of it, you will find yourself when it is over as poor as you were at first, besides having lost time and credit as well. For he cannot but be thought to lack sense who, having had a fair chance, has not known how to turn it to account. Bear the warning in mind, for within my own experience I have seen this mistake constantly made.
386 My father used to say, “ A ducat in your purse brings you more credit than ten spent;” a maxim to be remembered not as an excuse for being penurious or for falling short in any honourable or reasonable outlay, but as a check on needless extravagance.
387 It very seldom happens that a written instrument is an out-and-out fabrication from the first. It is only later, when dishonest thoughts sugges themselves to men's minds, or when in their management of affairs they find some useful clause to be wanting, that they seek to make a document say what they would wish it to have said. Wherefore when you have had instruments executed relating to matters of importance, let it be your practice to carry them off at once, and preserve them in your house in an authentic shape.
388 In Florence it is a very great charge for a man to have daughters, by reason of the extreme difficulty he has in getting them well married. To avoid mistakes as to the alliances he should seek for them, he must form a just estimate both of his own position and of the surrounding circumstances. This will diminish his difficulties, which on the other hand will be augmented if he thinks too well of himself or fails to see things as they are. I have often known prudent fathers begin by rejecting alliances which afterwards, when it was too late, they would have been glad to accept. This, however, is no reason for a man to hold himself so
cheap cheap that, like Francesco Vettori, he should give his daughters away to the first who asks for them. In short, it is a matter which demands great prudence; and I may say for myself that I am more certain what ought to be done, than that when the occasion comes I shall know how to do it.
389 Tis certain that services rendered to a people or corporate society are less considered than those rendered to individual men; for as they concern all collectively, none thinks himself specially obliged. He, therefore, who labours for a community or people, must not expect them to put themselves about for him in any danger or distress into which he may fall; or that for his sake, or out of gratitude for his services, they will forego their own advantage. For all that, you are not to think so disdainfully of conferring benefits upon a people as to neglect opportunities for doing so. For in this way you come to be well thought of, and to enjoy a good name, and this in itself is an ample return for your pains. Moreover, occasions may come in which the memory of your benefits will stand you in stead, and kindle those on whom they have been bestowed, at least if they have not
become
become corrupted, to some feeling of gratitude, though less ardent than would be felt by an individual; and there are so many whom this slight impression may touch, that sometimes, putting it altogether, the gratitude of a people is astonishing.
390 The return we reap from generous actions is not always manifest. Wherefore he who is not content to do good merely for its own sake will often leave off doing it, thinking he wastes his time. But in so thinking he makes no small mistake. For to do what is praiseworthy, if it bring you no other patent advantage, at least spreads your reputation and good name, and this is often and in many ways of incredible service to you.
391 The governor of a town threatened with attack or siege should trust most to those methods of defence which interpose delay; and even when he has no sure hope of success, should welcome every expedient that will cause the enemy to lose were it ever so little time. For often a day's or even an hour's respite may bring about deliverance.
392 If on the happening of any particular event
you you were to get some wise man to say what results he thought likely to follow, and were to write down his forecast, you would find when after a time you turned to look at it, that as little of his prediction had come true as might be the case at the year's end in regard to the prophecies of the astrologers. And this from the extreme uncertainty of human affairs.
393 In matters of moment no one can form a sound opinion who is not well informed of all particulars. For often some perfectly trifling circumstance will alter the whole case. And yet I have frequently seen the same man draw right conclusions in matters whereof he knew only the general bearings, and judge less correctly when all particulars were supplied him. For unless you have a very clear head, and one wholly free from passion, you are likely enough to waver or grow confused when many particulars are laid before you.
394 In reasoning about the future it is dangerous to proceed by drawing distinctions; as that
either
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
either this will happen or that; if this happen I shall do one thing, if that another. For often a third or fourth contingency presents itself which you had not taken into account; and the ground of your resolve failing, you are left in the lurch.
395 When disasters threaten, more especially in war, never hesitate or refuse to resort to remedies from a belief that they are too late. Because as the march of events, both from their own nature and from the various obstacles they meet with, is commonly slower than we reckon for, it will often happen that the remedy you fail to employ from judging it too late would still be in time. Of this I have repeatedly had experience.
396 Never, from a desire to confer pleasure or to conciliate friends, refrain from doing what will gain you reputation. For on him who maintains or extends his reputation, friends and favour follow of themselves; while he who omits to do what he ought, is in consequence little esteemed. Whoso lacks reputation shall also lack friends and favour.
397 The more you strive to escape an extreme by withdrawing towards its contrary, the more likely are you to fall into the extreme you would avoid, from not knowing how to halt at the just mean. Thus it is that popular governments, when to escape tyranny they betake themselves to licence, only get the deeper involved. Our friends in Florence have not yet learned this elementary lesson.
398 It is of ancient wont in Florence that when any law or other matter displeases us, we seek a remedy in enacting the express contrary; wherein finding afterwards other defects—since all extremes are faulty—we are constrained to frame further laws and ordinances. One reason, therefore, why we are always passing new laws is, that we seek rather how we may flee present ills than how we may correct them.
399 How falsely they speak who are continually declaring that had this been so, or that been otherwise, this or the other result had followed. For could the truth be known, it would be seen that, for the most part, the very same results would have followed, even had the circumstances been present which it is believed would have altered them.
400 When bad or ignorant men govern, it is no
wonder
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
wonder that goodness and worth are little prized. For bad men hold them in abhorrence, and ignorant men do not recognise them.
401 Provided he be no contemner of religion or sound morals, the man who is zealous for the welfare of his country, and opposed to whatever tends to the injury of others, is a sufficiently good citizen. The superabundant goodness of our friends at St. Mark's is often hypocrisy; but assuming it to be sincere, though it be not excessive in a Christian, it contributes nothing to the well-being of the state.
402 It was a mistake on the part of the Medici that in many respects they sought to conduct their government in accordance with popular principles; for instance, in enlarging the number of those eligible for office, in allowing every man a share in public business, and the like. For whereas a close government could be maintained in Florence only by the zealous support of a few, the methods I speak of neither gained for this family the favour of the people at large, nor made the few their partisans. The popular government will be guilty of a like error should it seek to conform in many particulars with the usages of a close government, and more especially if it should exclude any section of the citizens; for free institutions cannot be maintained unless they give content to all. Accordingly a free government cannot imitate a close government in everything; and it were madness to imitate it in what makes it hateful, and not in what makes it strong.
403 O ingenia magis acria quam matura, said Petrarch of the Florentine intellect; and with truth. For it is our characteristic quality to be quick and subtle rather than grave and mature.
NOTES.
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
NOTES.
NO.
1. The siege of Florence by the united forces of Pope
Clement VII. and the Emperor Charles V., which Guicciardini here refers to as having at the time he wrote lasted for seven months, began in October 1529, and did not terminate till the end of August 1530. This Reflection therefore was probably written in May or June 1530. The reference to the continued resistance of the Florentines in No. 136, and to the embassies of Carducci and others in No. 171, show that the whole series of Reflections, as far as the last-named number, must have been written or transcribed by Guicciardini in 1530 during the siege. From April to August 1530 the author was in Rome; see letter dated April 25, 1530, to his brother Jacopo, Op. Ined. x. 149, and subsequent letters to his brother Luigi, Op. Ined. ix. 148-156.
2. Cf. No. 246.
4. Cf. Nos. 291, 359.
5. Cf. Nos. 261-262. As to hope being a stronger
stimulus than fear, cf. No. 62.
6. Cf. Nos. 117, 257, 343. 7-8. Cf. No. 310.
9. Cf. No. 322, 10. Cf. Nos. 292-293. 11. Cf. Nos. 265, 390.
13. Cf. No. 300. I do not find any such conversation recorded by Tacitus.
Ha
14. Ct No. 266.
15 16. Cf. Nos. 281-282; and see the Meditation (dated September 1527, at Finocchieto, “ttmporepest1s”) printed in the Ricordi Autobiografici, Op. Ined. x. 125-126, where the same reflections occur in nearly identical terms. See also 1st. d Italia. Book viii. (voL ii. p. 227): “ Nelle cose che dopo lungo desiderio si ottengono, non trovano quasi mai gli uomini ne la giocondita ne la felicita che prima si avevano immaginata.”
17. Cf. No. 279. This Reflection also will be found in
the Meditation referred to in the preceding note. Op. Ined. x. 121.
18. Cf. No. 301.
19. Cf. No. 380.
20. Cf. No. 277; and see Machiavelli, Discorsi, iii. 6.
21. Cf. No. 402, and see Nos. 38, 376. As to the
necessity for a partisan government being adopted by the Medici, see Discorso quarto intorno alle mutazioni e riforme, Op. Ined. ii. 316-324.
22. Cf. Nos. 215, 284, 399; and see/*/, d'Italia, Book ix.
(vol. ii. p. 330): “ Sarebbe per avventura minore spesso 1'autorita di quegli che riprendono le cose infelicemente succedute, se nel tempo medesimo si potesse sapere quel che sarebbe accaduto, se si fosse proceduto diversamente,” &c.
23. Cf. Nos. 114, 318, 392; the Reflection occurs in the
Dialogue Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 208; and again in the 1st. d'Italia, Book iv. (vol. i. p. 342), in the speech assigned to Antonio Grimani.
24-25. Cf. Nos. 27, 255, 263, 264; and see speech ascribed to the Duke of Alva, 1st. d'Italia, Book xvi. (vol. iv. p, 28).
26. Cf. No. 308.
27. Cf. No. 24 and note.
NO.
28. Cf. No. 346. In the Considerazions sui Discorsi
del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 27, Guicciardini speaks in similarly severe terms of the Roman Court.
29. Cf. No. 353. Machiavelli had expressed a like
opinion, Discorsi iii. 12: “Chi considerrf1 bene i vicini della citta di Firenze ed i vicini della citta di Vinegia, non si meravigliera,” &c. See also Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 207-208.
30-31. Cf. No. 274; and see Machiavelli, Principe, cap. 25; Discorsi ii. 29, and iii. 9. See also Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 188. “ Nothing is more politic than to make the wheels of our mind concentric and voluble with the wheels of fortune.”—Bacon, Advancement of Learning.
32. Cf. No. 223; and see Del Reggimento, &c., Op.
Ined. ii. 147: “ Hannole cittalibereanon avere per male che i cittadini sua siano desiderosi della gloria,” &c.
33. Cf. No. 287.
34. Cf. Nos. 71, 325, 362; and see Discorsi Politici, Op.
Ined. i. 298: “ La esperienza mostra tutto di, che tutte le cose che hanno a finire,” &c.
36. Cf. No. 309.
37. Cf. Nos. 199, 269; and see 1st. d Italia, Book i. (vol.
'• P- 57): “Non pu6quasi essere che quello che molto efficacemente si afferma non faccia qualche ambiguita eziandio negli animi determinati a credere il contrario.”
38. Cf. No. 376, and see No. 21 and note. As to
the diffIculties of the later Medici as compared with those of Cosimo, see Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 189; and Considerazioni sui Discorsi del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 35.
39. Cf. No. 288. Piero Guicciardini, the author's father,
had five sons and six daughters, Op. Ined. x. 71. In the Ricordi Autobiografici, Op. Ined. x. 90, Guicciardini conjectures that his father's death was hastened by the vexation caused him by the debts and embarrassments of his eldest son, Luigi.
40. Cf. No. 296.
41. Cf. No. 307; and see Considerazimi sui Discorsi
del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 75.
42. Cf. Nos. 217, 396.
43. Cf. No. 340.
44. Cf. No. 224. Opposed to the opinion put forward
by Machiavelli, Principe, cap. 18, that it may be better to seem than to be good.
45. Cf. No. 386. A saying cited by Gio. Rucellai in his
Zibaldone: “ Disse un nostro cittadino che trovava che gli aveva fatto piu onore un denaro risparmiato che cento spesi.”
46. Cf. No. 260; and see Del Reggimento di Firenze,
Op. Ined. li. 77: “A conservare bene la giustizia basterebbe assai, da quelli in fuora che sono molto atroci, che i delitti fussino puniti a 12 soldi per lira, pure che fussino puniti tutti.”
47. Cf. No. 313.
48. Cf. No. 317; and see Del Reggimento di Firenze,
Op. Ined. ii. 211, where the same reflection is expressed in almost identical language. With the view of Guicciardini that States cannot be governed in accordance with the moral law, compare the saying of Cosimo de' Medici, “ Gli Stati non si tengono con i paternostri in mano,” and the saying of Gino Capponi that for “the ' Ten of the War' such men only should be chosen as loved their country more than their souls.”
NO.
49. Cf. Nos. 88, 270.
50. Cf. No. 276, where, however, other names are cited.
“John of Popfi” having acquired, while employed in some subordinate capacity in the Chancery of' The Ten,' an intimate knowledge of official business, was taken into their service by the Medicean rulers as a useful instrument of their Government. Nardi, Hist, di Firenze, ed. Le Monnier, vol. ii. p. 60. In 1517 he was secretary to Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici. 1st. 1f Italia, Book xiii. (vol. iii. p. 210). He is frequently referred to in the correspondence connected with Guicciardini's Legazione dell Emilia, Op. Ined. vol. vii.
51. Cf. No. 275.
52-53. Cf. Nos. 348-349. Corbinelli, in a supplementary note to No. 21 of his Collection, relates, on the authority of M. Isidore Ruberti, secretary to the Nuncio at the French Court, that Cardinal Colonna, being denied by Pope Clement VII. certain favours he had asked of him, upbraided his Holiness with having been made Pope through his efforts. Whereupon Clement answered that what he said was true; but he prayed him to leave him Pope, and not himself usurp the functions; otherwise he would be taking from him what he had before given.
54. Cf. No. 391. The proverb “Time is life” (M ha
tempo ha vita) is quoted in the Discorsi Politici, Op. Ined. i. 313.
55. Cf. No. 278.
56. Cf. No. 384. The Florentine Grosso or Grossone was
properly equivalent to twenty-one Quattrini only.
57. Cf. No. 367.
59. As to the timidity of Pope Clement, see also Nos. 194, 381; and compare 1st. tf'Italia, Book xvi. M
(vol. iv. p. 69): “ Ne avendo, per la memoriu di avere temuto molte volte vanamente, preso esperienza, di non si lasciare sopraffare al timore.”
60. Cf. No. 337.
61. Cf. No. 299.
62. As to what measures find favour with popular govern
ments, see Machiavelli, Discorsi, i. 53.
63. Cf. No. 285.
64. These remarks on the change in methods of warfare
are repeated and expanded in the 1st. d'Italia, Book xv. (vol. iii. p. 422), in connection with the death of Prospero Colonna, which took place in the year 1523.
66. Cf. No. 328, and see Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op.
Ined. ii. 55: “ Se questi che predicano la liberta credessino in uno Stato stretto avere per particulare suo migliore condizione che in uno libero, ne resterebbe pochi che non vi corressino per le poste.”
67. Cf. No. 344.
68. Cf. Nos. 237-238, and see Del Reggimento di Firenze,
Op. Ined. ii. 87-89, where the subject of neutrality in war is treated in nearly identical terms. See also 1st. cC Italia, Book x. (vol. ii. p. 428): “ La neutralita nelle guerre degli altri essere cosa laudabile,” &c.; and again 1st. d' Italia, Book xi. (vol. iii. pp. 13-14). The author had studied the observations of Machiavelli, Principe, cap. 21; Discord, i. 38; ii. 15.
69. Cf. No. 338.
70. Cf. No. 283.
71. Cf. No. 34 and note.
72. Cf. No. 256.
73. See speech ascribed to the Duke of Alva, 1st. d Italia,
Book xvi. (vol. iv. p. 30): “ Cosi 1'usarono Allessandro e Cesare che furono liberali a perdonare le ingiurie, non inconsiderati,” &c.
N0.
74, Cf. No. 202; and see the speech assigned to Antonio Grimani, 1st. d Italia, Book iv. (vol. i. p. 339), where a reputation for readiness to resent injuries is declared to be most necessary; '' non tanto per il piacere della vendetta, quanto perchd la penitenza di chi t' ha offeso sia tale esempio agli altri che non ardiscano provocarti."
76. Cf. No. 336, and see Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op.
Ined. ii. 24: “ Cosl tutto quello che e stato per il passato, parte e al presente, parte sara in altri tempi, e ogni dl ritorna in essere, ma sotto varie coperte e varii colori, in modo che,” &c. See also letter from Guicciardini to Machiavelli, dated Modena, 18th May 1521, Opere di Machiai1elli (ed. Italia, 1813), vol. viii. p. 160: “ Vedi che mutati sono i visi degli uomini ed i colori estrinseci; le cose meuosime tutte ritornano, ne vediamo accidente alcuno che a altri tempi non sia stato veduto.”
77. Cf. No. 273. In a letter written by Guicciardini
during his Spanish embassy, Op. Ined. vi. 172, he speaks of the difficulty of ascertaining what the designs of the Spanish statesmen really were: '' Molte volte pubblicano il contrario di quello che gli hanno in animo."
78. Cf. No. 339; see also Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op.
Ined. ii. 190: “ Le medesime imprese che fatte fuora di tempo sono difficillime o impossibili, diventano facillime quando sono accompagnate dal tempo e dalla occasione; e a chi le tenta fuora del tempo suo, non solo non gli riescono, ma e periculo che lo averle tentate non le guasti per a quello tempo che facilmente sarebbono riuscite: e questa e una delle ragioni che i pazienti sono tenuti savii.”
79. Cf. No. 298.
NO.
80. Cf. No. 364.
81. "It is good to guard adventures with certainties
that may uphold losses.“—Bacon's Essays. ” Of Riches."
82. Cf. No. 247.
83. Cf. No. 297.
84. Cf. No. 321. In the counsels left by Gino di Neri
Capponi for the guidance of his son he says, that “he who would attain to a great position in his native city must not leave it too often, nor for any but important affairs.”
85. Cf. No. 360.
86. Cf. No. 352 and note.
87. Cf. No. 295.
88. Cf. Nos. 49, 270.
89. Cf. 366.
90. Other counsels to courtiers are given in Nos. 94, 195,
356, 37o
91. Cf. No. 329.
92. Cf. No. 147; and see fit. d* Italia, Book vi. (vol. ii.
p. 21), where, moralising on the death of Pope Alexander VI., Guicciardini observes that though stained with every vice he had always prospered: “esempio potente a confondere 1'arroganza di coloro i quali presumendosi di scorgere con la debolezza degli occhi umani la profondita dei giudizi divini, affermano che ci6 che di prospero o d' avverso avviene agli uomini procede o dai meriti o dai demeriti loro.”
93. Cf. No. 316. The Duke of Ferrara referred to was
Alfonso I. d'Este, who died in 1534. In the 1st. d * Italia, Book xiii. (vol. iii. p. 270) Guicciardini again says of him that in many respects he was more of a merchant than a prince.
94. Cf. No. 84, and see No. 90 and note.
95. Cf. No. 311, and see No. 347. Writing of the assault of Parma by the French troops on the a1st December 1521, Guicciardini says, “Si 1nisono con tanto impeto in luogo, che non so se questa si debba chiamare animosita o bestialita.” Op. Ined. vii. 380.
96. Cf. No. 312, and see 1st. d Italia, Book iii. (vol. i.
p. 237), the speech assigned to the Doge Agostino Barbarico, in which the same topic is similarly treated. See also No. 116.
97. Cf. No. 252. Giulio de' Medici was created Pope
on the 19th November 1523, when he assumed the title of Clement VII. Ferrante Francesco d'Avalos, Marquis of Pescara, husband of the celebrated poetess Vittoria Colonna, served with distinction in the Italian wars of the Emperor Charles V. His reputation was obscured by his connection with the intrigues of Girolamo Morone. He died in 1525. The Reflection is repeated nearly verbatim in the 1st. £ Italia, Book v. (vol. i. p. 456): “ L'esperienza dimostra essere verissimo che rare volte succede quel che e desiderato da molti; perche dependendo communemente gli effetti delle azioni umane dalla volonta de' pochi, ed essendo 1'intenzione e i fini di questi quasi sempre diversi dalla intenzione e da' fini de' molti, possono difficilmente succedere le cose altrimenti che secondo 1'intenzione di coloro che danno loro •il moto.”
98-99. Cf. Nos. 130, 304. See also Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 61: “ Vi dico essere vero che uno che ha lo Stato in mano ha rispetto di non fare alcuno si grande che gli possa portare pericolo, e piu teme da' valenti uomini che dagli altri, perche sono atti a maggiori cose; nondimeno, se e prudente, si governa con modo e con distinzione, facendo differenza da uno che e savio e non animoso, e uno che e savio, animoso, e non inquieto, e da questi a chi ha ingegno, e animo, e inquietudine; co' primi procedera largamente; co' secondi bene, con qualche rispetto piu; co' terzi andra piu stretto.”
100. Cf. No. 305. Machiavelli, Discorsi, iii. 2, declares the course here recommended to be impracticable.
Io1. Cf. No. 304.
102. Cf. Nos. 54, 391.
103. Cf. Nos. 303, 326.
104. Cf. Nos. 267-268, and see Machiavelli, Principe,
cap. 18. See also Bacon's Essays. “Of Simulation and Dissimulation.” In the 1st. 1f Italia, Book vi. (vol. ii. p. 32), the author cites Pope Julius II. as having followed the methods here recommended, to enable him to obtain the Popedom.
105. In the 1st, d Italia, Book iv. (vol. i. p. 339),
Guicciardini, however, says that when once a man has got a name for deceiving, no one will trust him; and in Book xi. (vol. iii. p. 49) that we can neither excuse nor pity the man who, having once been deceived by another, afterwards gives him his confidence. By “ the Catholic King” is here meant Ferdinand of Aragon, to whose character for dissimulation Machiavelli also refers, Principe, cap. 18, without naming him.
106. Cf. No. 388. The anxieties of the Florentine father
of daughters had long before been touched upon by Dante, Par. xv. 103-105. By his wife, Maria Salviati, Guicciardini had five children, all of them daughters: Romola Simona, who died in infancy; Margherila Simona, born I4th April 1512, during her father's absence on his Spanish embassy; Lucrezia, bom 1514, died 1527; Laodamia, married to Pandolfo Pucci who was hanged by Duke Cosimo de' Medici in 1560; and Lisabetta. In the Lettere Familiari of Machiavelli a curious correspondence is preserved, extending from 17th August 1525 to 2nd June 1526, wherein Machiavelli reports the efforts he had made to secure a husband for Margherita. From the last letter of the series it may be inferred that the youth for whom she was intended was Giovambatista, son of Lorenzo Strozzi. But the young man's father, though otherwise well-disposed to the match, stood out for a larger dower than Guicciardini was able or willing to give, and the arrangement fell through. Machiavelli would seem to have conducted the negotiations with much zeal and address. In one of his letters, without date, he advises Guicciardini to apply to Pope Clement to help him to make up his daughter's dower to the required amount, and even suggests the substance of the communication which he thinks might be written to his Holiness on the subject. Guicciardini does not appear to have followed this counsel, and Margherita was eventually married to Piero, eldest son of Niccolo Capponi, to the great mortification of Tommaso Soderini, who wanted Piero to wed a daughter of his own. Varchi, Storia Fiorentina, T. i. 397; Nerli, Commentarii, Book viii. (Augsburg ed. p. 171). According to Bernardo Segni, Storie Florentine, Book viii. (Augsburg ed. p. 217), Guicciardini met with a bitter disappointment in failing to marry his daughter Lisabetta to Cosimo de' Medici, whose election as Signor of Florence he had been induced to favour in prospect of this alliance. In the Meditation dated September 1527, printed in the Ricordi Autobiografici, Op. Ined. x. 104-105. in reciting the various disadvantages attending his loss of the governorship of the Romagna, Guicciardini refers to the difficulties he must now have in obtaining suitable matches for his daughters.
107. Cf. Machiavelli, Discorsi, ii. 2: " Di tutte le serviti1
dure quella e durissima che ti sottomette ad una repubblica . . . perche il fine della repubblica e enervareed indebolire, per accrescere il corposuo, tutti gli altri corpi. II che non fa un principe che ti sottometta,“ &c. In the Considerazion! sui Discorsi del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 28, Guicciardini speculates as to whether, on the whole, it might not have been for the advantage of Italy to have fallen under the government of a sole monarch: ” Essendo il costume delle repubbliche non partecipare e frutti della sua liberta e imperio a altri che a' suoi cittadini proprii."
108. Cf. No. 374.
109. Cf. No. 365 and note. In the Del Reggimento di
Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 25, Bernardo del Nero is made to say: “ Chi introdusse le liberta non ebbe per suo fine che ognuno si intromettessi nel governare; ma lo intento suo fu perche si conservassino le leggi e il bene commune, il quale, quando uno governa bene, si conserva meglio sotto lui che in altro governo.”
no. This may be meant as a protest against Machiavelli's mferences from Roman examples.
1n-11a. Cf. DelReggimentodi Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 86: “Se mettete insieme otto o dieci savii, nasce qualche volta tra loro tale varieta che saranno giudicati pazzi.” &c. “Antonio of Venafra,” minister to Pandolfo Petrucci, Lord of Siena, is much commended by Machiavelli in the Principe, cap. 22.
NO.
113. Cf. No. 290.
114. Cf. No. 392.
115. The Monte was the consolidated Public Debt of
Florence. As to its origin and character, see Cronica di Mattco Villani, Book iii. cap. 106; and Varehi, Storia Fiorentina, T. iii. 33-34. In the year 1511 more than a third of the revenue of the State went to pay the interest on the public debt. Op. Ined. ii. 265, note.
116. Cf. No. 96 and note.
117. Cf. Nos. 6, no. " E senza dubbio molto periculoso
il governarsi con gli esempi, se non concorrono non solo in generale ma in tutti i particolari le medesime ragioni." 1st. 1f Italia, Book i. (vol. i.
P- 87).
118. Cf. No. 327, and see Nos. 32, 223. " Fame is the
spur that the clear spirit doth raise."
119. Cf. No. 387.
120. Cf. No. 244.
121. Cf. No. 378.
122. "Compound for sins they are inclined to
By damning those they have no mind to."
123. “ So that it may not be amiss,” cVc. Compare No.
211, at the end.
124. “ Andyet perhaps,” &c. SeeMachiavelli, Discorsi,
i. 12.
126. Cf. No. 213: “ To reckon the least evil as a good.”
Machiavelli, Principe, cap. 21. See too 1st. d'Italia, Book ii. (vol. i. pp. 207-208), and Book xii. (vol. iii. p. 112).
127. Cf. No. 250.
128. Cf. Nos. 151, 319. See also Discorsi Politici, Op.
Ined. i. 231: “Chi ha a fare pronostico delle deliberazioni di altri, non debbe tanto andare con la misura di quello che ragionevolmente doverebbe fare uno savio, quanto con la misura del cervello, natura, e altre condizioni di chi ha a deliberare; e chi procede altrimenti spesso si inganna.” And see the speech put into the mouth of Niccol6 Foscarini, 1st. (t Italia, Book vii. (vol. ii. p. 150). In the Advancement of Learning, Lord Bacon relates,“ It was both pleasantly and wisely said, though I think very untruly, by a Nuncio of the Pope returning from a certain nation where he had served as lidger, whose opinion being asked touching the appointment of one to go in his place, he wished that in any case they did not send one that was too wise, because no very wise man would ever imagine what they in that country were like to do.”
129. Cf. No. 350.
130. Cf. No. 98 and note.
131. Cf. No. 306, and see Considerazion* sui Discorsi del
Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 35: “Chi e disperato non aspetta le occasioni. ma le cerca,” &c.
133. Cf. No. 324.
134-135. Cf. Nos. 225-226, and see Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 74 75, where the same observations occur in nearly the same words: “ lo vi dico che per natura tutti gli uomini sono inclinati al bene,” &c.
136. Cf. No. 1 and note. The allusion to the successful resistance made by the Florentines up to the time when this Reflection was written, is of importance as fixing the date when the whole of the foregoing Reflections must have been entered by Guicciardini in his commonplace book.
138. Cf. No. 302. The quotation is from Seneca, Epist. 107. In the 1st. d'Italia, Book xvi. (vol. iv. p. 57} the idea is paraphrased: “Non e cosa alcuna pii1 difficile a schifare che il Fato, nessuno rimedio e contra i mali determinati.”
Ne.
140. Cf. No. 345. In the Considerazioni sui Discorsi del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 56, the author compares the people to the waves of the sea, driven one way or another by the wind that happens to prevail: “Non sanza cagione e assomigliata la moltitudine alle onde del mare, le quali, secondo e venti che tirano, vanno ora in qua ora in la, sanza alcuna regola, sanza alcuna fermezza.”
142. Cf. 1st. dItalia, Book i. (vol. i. p. 28); "Qual
maggior felicita puo avere Principe alcuno che le deliberazioni dalle quali risulta la gloria e la grandezza propria, siano accompagnate da circostanze e conseguenze tali, che apparisca ehe elle si facciano non meno per benerizio e per salute universale, e molto pii1 per 1'esaltazione di tutta la Repubblica Cristiana?“ As to the ” Catholic King,“ see 1st. dItalia, Book xii. (vol. iii. p. 183), where he is said to have cloaked all his ambitious schemes ”sotto colore di onesto zelo della religione, e di santa intenzione al bene comune." Compare Machiavelli, Principe, cap. 21; and see supra, note to No. 105.
143. The remarks here made might seem intended by
Guicciardini to meet criticism on the prolixity of his own history.
144. Cf. No. 351. The Castilian proverb, "El hilo pet
lo masdelgado quebra,“ is also cited by Bacon in his Essay '' Of Seditions and Troubles,” but not with the meaning here given it. An interview with the Spanish Secretary at the time when the news of the treaty between the French and the Venetians had just arrived in Spain, is recorded in the Legazione della Spagna, Op. Ined. vi. 207.
145. Cf. No. 320.
147. Cf. Nos. 91-92, and see also No. 1.
148. Canestrini informs us that on the margin of his manuscript the author had here written: La andata nostra a Cremona. The reference is to the siege of Cremona by the joint forces of the Pope and the Venetians in 1526. Owing to inadequate preparations on the part of the assailants, the town was able to hold out for nearly two months. See the letters of Guicciardini in La Luogotenenxa Generate, Op. Ined. iv. pp. 143413 passim.
149. This Reflection probably relates to the campaign
referred to in the preceding note.
150. Here again Canestrini tells us that the author had
noted on the margin: Duca di Urbino. Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, who commanded the Venetian contingent in the campaign of 1526, had an old score to settle with the Church, and was believed by Guicciardini to have shown remissness, if not treachery, in his conduct of the war. Compare 1st. ctItalia, Book xvi. (vol. iv. p. 20), where the reference is to the Duke of Ferrara. The Reflection had been made before by Machiavelli, Discorsi, iii. 17.
151. Cf. No. 128 and note.
153. Cf. Discorsi Politici, Op. Ined. i. 299: “E piu da temere che uno imbasciadore che e appresso a uno principe, gli creda e favorisca le cose sue pit che il debito, che le diminuisca o le abbatta.”
155. Cf. No. 393, and see Considerazion* sui Discorsi
del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 52.
156. In the 1st. d*Italia, Book xvi. (vol. iv. p. 69), where
he contrasts the characters of the Popes Leo and Clement, he says of the latter what he here says of himself: “ Parendogli sempre poiche aveva deliberato che il consiglio stato rifiutato da lui fosse migliore; perche rappresentandosegli allora innanzi solamente queste ragioni che erano state neglette da lui, non rivocava nel suo discorso le ragioni che 1'avevano mosso a eleggere,” &c.
157. Cf. No. 201.
158. “A good name is better than much riches;” but
compare No. 240, where he says that without riches a good name can hardly be preserved. See too No. 363.
162. Cf. No. 395.
163. Cf. No. 258. apxh arSpa Sflxwa1. The saying is
quoted by Guicciardini in the concluding words of the Istoria £ Italia: “E verissimo e degno di somma laude quel proverbio che il Magistrato fa manifesto il valore di chi 1'esercita.”
164. Cf. 1st. dItalia, Book xiv. (vol. iii. p. 284);
“ Non hanno gli uomini maggiore inimico che la troppa prosperita.”
165. Cf. No. 355.
167. See speech given to the Duke of Alva, 1st. ct Italia,
Book xvi. (vol. iv. p. 29): “ Dov' e la leggierezza non e cognizione di virtu, non giudizio di discernere le azioni di altri, non gravita da misurare quello che convenga a se stesso.”
168. Compare Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii.
62:“ Quello che si fa studiosamer.te suole avere peso e misura; ma la ignoranza e cieca, confusa, e sanza termine o regola; e per6 dice il proverbio, che spesso e meglio avere a fare col maligno che con lo ignorante.”
169. Cf. No. 243.
171. In a note on this Reflection Canestrini suggests that the contempt expressed by Guicciardini for these Florentine envoys was inspired by his hatred of the free government established in Florence in 1527, by the party to which they belonged. But the terms in which these men are mentioned by Varchi, who was himself favourable to the Re
NO.
publican cause, show that Guicciardini's disdainful notice of them was not undeserved. Baldassare Carducci, being then over seventy years of age, went as ambassador to France in December 1528, where he died in August 1530. Bartolommeo Gualterotti, “ uomo anzi buono e amorevole che avveduto e valente,” was appointed ambassador to Venice in March 1529. Bardo Altoviti, “ giovane tanto vano e ambizioso che niuna cosa era ne tanto buona ne cosi rea, che non la boria e vana gloria sua fatto fare non gli avessero,” was appointed envoy to Siena in June 1529. Galeotto Giugni, “ burbero e zotico di natura, e se non bizzarro, rotto e iroso molto,” was appointed ambassador to Ferrara at the same time as Bardo Altoviti to Siena. As all these embassies terminated on the fall of the Florentine Republic, the reference to them as then existing, taken in connection with the dates supplied in Reflections Nos. 1 and 136, shows that the present Reflection also was written while the siege of Florence was still proceeding.
172. Cf. No. 314. " I govern! non furono trovati per
fare onore e utile a chi ha a governare, ma per benefizio di chi ha a essere governato." Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 55.
173. Cf. Nos. 294, 315. The opinion that a prodigal is
better liked by his subjects than a saving prince,
is repeated, 1st. (t Italia, Book xii. (vol. iii. p.
• 182), where Guicciardini considers the character
of Ferdinand the Catholic.
174-175. Cf. No. 259. "E impossibile che uno uomo qualificato possa riposare in una citta dove il capo dello stato stretto non lo reputa amico; ne pu6 difendersene col non travagliarsi, o col non lo offendere; perche a ogni ora nascono infmiti
No.
casi che di necessita bisogna capitargil alle mani." Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 71. 176. Cf. No. 368.
181. As to Guicciardini's methods of governing, see his
letter of instructions to his brother Jacopo on his succeeding to the government of the Romagm1, Op. Ined. viii. 393.
182. Cf. No. 394.
183. This maxim is put into the mouth of Giangiacopo
Trivulzi. 1st. d'Italia, Book ix. (vol. ii. p. 340).
184. Cf. No. 186 and note.
185. Cf. No. 229.
186. Cf. Nos. 184, 235, and see Bacon, Advancement
of Learning: “The second (precept) is to keep a good mediocrity in liberty of speech and secrecy; in most things liberty; secrecy where it importeth: for liberty of speech inviteth and provoketh liberty to be used again.” As to discretion being a safer guide than books, see No. 6. 188. Cf. No. 397.
193. “ There be many cautious methods of writing.”
Writing in cipher was constantly practised by Guicciardini himself, both in official and private communications. Varchi, in the Storia Fiorentina, T. ii. 183, refers to the case of a certain Lapo del Tovaglia, who on his confession that ha had seen Baccio Valori and Messer Francesco Guicciardini writing a letter with lemon-juice, was put to the rack to elicit further disclosures. The danger of written communication between conspirators had been touched upon by Machiavelli, Discorsi, iii. 6.
194. Cf. Nos. 59, 213, 381.
197. " 7'he Quarantla. As to the constitution and procedure of this tribunal, see Varchi, Storia Fiorentina, T. i. 225-234,
N0.
199. Cf. No 37 and note.
201. Cf. No. 157.
202. Cf. No. 74. "Some, when they take revenge, are
desirous the party should know whence it cometh. This is the more generous.“—Bacon's Essays, ” Of Revenge."
203. Cf. No. 335.
204. In the Instructions to his brother Jacopo when ap
pointed to succeed him in the government of the Romagna, Guicciardini writes: “ E fatica grande difendersi da' ladri, massime dai governatori e dai bargelli; i primi sono eccessivi nel pigliare le sportule e ne' pagamenti delle loro cancellerie; gli altri nelle catture ed esecuzioni sue.” Op. Ined. viii. 408.
205. “ Twice I have held high command” On the first
occasion in the year 1521 as commissary of the forces of Pope Leo X. co-operating with the Emperor Charles V. against the King of France. In the 1st. d'Italia, Book xiv. passim, Guicciardini blames the general-in-chief, Prospero Colonna, for his excessive slowness and caution in the conduct of this campaign. The second occasion on which Guicciardini held military command was in the campaign of 1526, referred to in No. 148 and note.
207. Cf. Nos. 57. 367.
209. Cf. No. 289.
211. “ Faculty of foretelling the future,” &c. The dis
tinction between prediction of the future practised as an art, and prophecy under divine afflatus, is again noted. 1st. d Italia, Book i. (vol. i. p. 67). “ Are secret powers of Nature,” &c. Compare concluding sentence of No. 123.
212. Cf. Nos. 109, 354. The Reflection is put into the
mouth of Bernardo del Nero in the Dialogue
Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 129130: “ Dopo il governo di uno e lodato in secondo luogo quello di pochi, quando sono i migliori, e per6 si chiamano Ottimati: governo che a giudicio mio in ogni luogo ha molte difficult^ a essere buono, ma a. Firenze sopra tutti li altri; perche da una casa all' altra non & tanto eccesso, ne ci sono qualita si rilevate, che questa distinzione possi farsi se non per forza,” &c. To the same effect, see the speech assigned to Pagolantonio Soderini, 1st. d'ltalia, Book ii. (vol. i. p. 130). But in the Considerazioni sui Discorsi del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 16, Guicciardini says: '' Quando fussi necessitate mettere in una citta o uno governo meramente di nobili, o uno governo di plebe, creder6 sia manco errore farlo di nobili. . . . E questa conclusione e secondo la sentenza di tutti quelli che hanno scritto delle republiche, che prepongono il governo degli ottimati a quello della moltitudine.“ And see Hid., p. 55. In the Storia Fiorentina, T. i. 398, Varchi says of our author: ” Egli arebbe voluto uno Stato col nome d'Ottimati, ma in fatti di pochi, nel quale larghissima parte, per le sue molte e rarissime qualita, meritissimamente gli si venla." Compare Villari, Machiavelli e suoi Tempi, vol. ii. p. 256. 213. Cf. Nos. 126, 194.
215. Cf. Nos. 22, 284, 399.
216. Cf. No. 373, and see the Meditation printed in
the Ricordi Autobiografici, Op. Ined. x. 128: “ Dicono alcuni savi che la vita nostra e simile a una commedia, nella quale, a dare laude a coloro che vi recitano, non si attende tanto che persona ciascuno sostenga, quanto se porta bene la persona che ha.”
N
NO.
217. Cf. Nos. 42, 396.
220. Cf. Nos. 330, 358 and notes; and see Del Reggi
mento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 71: “ Non mi pare gia cbe se la mala fortuna loro o la disposizione de' cieli ha voluto che surga uno tiranno, d:e si debba dare nota di cattivo cittadino a quelli che, poi che il tiranno sanza opera loro e introdotto, si sforzano, non mutando costumi e non usando male la autorita che avessino, a avere luogo nello Stato stretto; e massime quelli che sono di qualche condizione, perche se vogliono giocare al largo, vengono presto al sospetto di essere inimici dello Stato.”
221. Machiavelli, Discorsi, ii. 25, has a similar remark
as to the danger of attacking a city split into factions.
Here ends a series of Reflections which we may believe to have been written by Guicciardini at Rome in the year 1530, between the months of May and August. From an entry in the author's handwriting we learn that the Reflections which follow, as far as No. 393, were transcribed by him in the beginning of the year 1528, “tit a time when he had much leisure,” into a fresh note-book from other note-books written before 1525. Another entry, likewise in the author's handwriting, inserted in the manuscript between Nos. 393 and 394, informs us that this transcription had been interrupted, but was resumed in April 1528, when it is probable that the few remaining Reflections were added. The series of Reflections extending from No. 1 to No. 221 is consequently, contrary to the view taken by M. A.
Counsels and reflections of Francesco Guicciardini
Geffroy at p. 678 of the Revue des Deux Mondes, 1st February 1874, of later date than the series No. 222 to No. 403.
223. Cf. No. 32 and note.
224. Cf. No. 44 and note.
225-226. Cf. Nos. 134-135 and note.
227-228. Perhaps ironical.
229. Cf. No. 185.
231. See Discorso terzo intorno alle mutazioni e riforme,
Op. Ined. ii. 262: “Due ragioni principal! mi fanno credere che la nostra citta in processo di non.molti anni, se Dio evidentemente non la ajuta, abbi a perdere la liberta e stato suo.”
232. Plain sense and fine parts are again contrasted in
Nos. 60 and 337. 235. Cf. Nos. 88, 186, 270. 237-238. Cf. No. 68 and note. 240-241. Cf. Nos. 158, 218, 363. 342. Cf. No. 372.
243. Cf. No. 169.
244. Cf. No. 120.
246. Cf. No. 2.
247. Cf. No. 82.
248. See speech of Demarata, daughter of Hiero of
Syracuse, Livy, Book xxiv. 22: “Facile esse momento quo quis velit cedere possessions magnse fortunse: facere et parare eam, difficile atque arduum.”
249. '' Lasciarsi trasportare dagli sdegni contro alia
utilita propria e leggierezza." Ist. ct Italia, Book iv. (vol. i. p. 345).
250. Cf. No. 127.
252. Cf. No. 97 and note.
NO.
354. Cf. No. 401. “It has been truly said” &c. By Machiavelli, Discorsi, ii. 2. '' One of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Machiavel, had the confidence to put in writing, almost in plaine terms, that the Christian faith had given up good men in prey to those that are tyrannicall and unjust. Which he spake because, indeed, there was never law, or sect, or opinion did so much magnify goodness as the Christian religion doth. Therefore, to avoid the scandal and the danger both, it is good to take knowledge of the errours of a habit so excellent.“—Bacon's Essays, ” Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature."
255. Cf. No. 27.
236. Cf. No. 72.
257. Cf. Nos. 6, 343.
258. Cf. No. 163 and note.
259. Cf. Nos. 174-175 and note.
260. Cf. No. 46 and note. 261-262. Cf. No. 5 and note.
263-264. Cf. Nos. 24-25 and note; and see Machiavelli, Discorsi, i. 29, citing Tacitus, Hist. iv. 2.
265. Cf. Nos. n, 390.
266. Cf. No. 14.
267-268. Cf. Nos. 104, 105 and notes.
269. Cf. No. 37 and note,
270. Cf. Nos. 49, 88.
271. See Machiavelli, Discorsi, iii. 6.
273. Cf. No. 77 and note.
274. Cf. Nos. 30-31 and note.
275. Cf. No. 51.
276. Cf. No. 50 and note. “ Messer Goro.” GoroGheri
da Pistoja is mentioned by Varchi as one of the agents employed by the Medici to carry on their government in Florence, and as greatly detested on account of his arrogance and rudeness. Storia Fiorentina, T. i. 70. Many letters passing between Messer Goro and Guicciardini during the years 1516-1518, at the time when the latter was governor of the Emilian Province, are printed in the seventh volume of the Open Inedite. In a letter to Jacopo Salviati, dated June 12, 1526, Op. Ined. iv. 46, Guicciardini writes: “Intendo che Messer Goro sta molto male: quando mancassi vi raccomando la cosa di Messer Niccolb secondo la fede che Luigi ed io abbiamo in voi.” This “ Messer Niccold” may possibly have been Niccol6 Machiavelli, for whom, in the previous year, Salviati had endeavoured to obtain employment from Pope Clement. See Villari, N. Machiavelli e suoi Tempi, iii. 324.
277. Cf. No. 20.
278. Cf. No. 55.
279. Cf. No. 17 and note.
281-282. Cf. Nos. 15-16 and note.
283. Cf. No. 70.
284. Cf. No. 22 and note. 285-286. Cf. Nos. 63, 160.
287. Cf. No. 33.
288. Cf. No. 39.
289. Cf. No. 209.
290. Cf. Nos. 113.
291. Cf. Nos. 4, 359. 292-293. Cf. No. 1o.
294. Cf. No. 173, and see Machiavelli, Principe, cap. 16.
295. Cf. No. 87.
296. Cf. No. 40.
297. Cf. No. 83.
298. Cf. No. 79.
299. Cf. No. 61.
300. Cf. No. 13 and note.
No.
301. Cf. No. 18.
302. Cf. No. 138 and note.
303. Cf. No. 103.
304. Cf. Nos. 98-99 and note. See also No. lor.
305. Cf. No. 100 and note.
306. Cf. No. 131 and note.
307. Cf. No. 41 and note.
308. Cf. No. 36.
309. Cf. No. 36.
310. Cf. Nos. 7-8.
311. Cf. No. 93 and note.
312. Cf. No. 96 and note.
313. Cf. No. 47.
314. Cf. No. 172 and note.
315. Cf. No. 173 and note.
316. Cf. No. 93 and note.
317. Cf. No. 48 and note.
318. Cf. No. 23 and note.
319. Cf. No. 128 and note.
320. Cf. No. 145.
321. Cf. No. 84 and note. “ Dicosa nascecosa.” The
proverb is cited by Machiavelli, Mandragola,
Act i. Sc. i.
322. Cf. No. 9.
323. " Memorise proditur Tiberium quotiens curia egre-
deretur, Graecis verbis in hunc modum eloqui
solitum: O homines ad servitutem paratos!
Scilioet etiam ilium qui libertatem publicam nol-
let, tam projectoe servientium patientiae toede-
bat."—Tacitus, Ann. iii. 65.
324. Cf. No. 133.
325. Cf. No. 34 and note.
326. Cf. Nos. 103, 303.
327. Cf. No. 118 and note.
328. Cf. No. 66 and note.
329. Cf. No. 91.
NO.
330. Cf. Nos. 220, 358 and notes. In the dialogue Del
Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 71, Bernardo del Nero is made to say: '' Per6 non veggo che si possa biasimare chi cerca conservare le faculti e il grado suo, intrattenendosi con lo Stato stretto, poiche altro rimedio non vi e; e se nel resto vive modestamente ed e sempre uomo da bene, non solo per questo non viene offendere la patria, ma piu presto gli fa beneficio; perche trovandosi in qualche fede con chi regge, gli viene occasione coi consigli e con le opere di favorire molti beni e disfavorire molti mali; e nessuna cosa potrebbe far peggio alia citta cbe il non essere intorno al tiranno altro che uomini tristi."
331. It seems probable that this Reflection w.is originally
written shortly before the expedition sent by Pope Clement against Siena in June 1526, the defeat of which, on the 25th July, is related by Francesco Vettori in a letter to Machiavelli dated 7th August of that year. Intrigues on the part of the Pope with Sienese exiles had apparently been going on for some time before this attempt was made. As to the '' innate hatred" of the Sienese for the Florentines, and for an account of their government, seeVarchi, Storia Fiorentina, T. i. 407-414.
332. As to the long-continued hostility of the Papa!
Government towards the Dukedom of Ferrara, see Guicciardini, 1st. d*Italia, Book xvi. (vol. iv. pp. 17-20). The terms of the Reflection seem to point rather to the attempt of Pope Julius II. in 1510, than to the subsequent efforts of Leo X. in 1521, or the designs of Clement VII. in 1525, since both of the last-named Popes might in a sense be said to be already masters of Tuscany. As late as 1528, Clement, accord, ing to Muratori (AnnalictItalia), was hatching plots to deprive Duke Alfonso of his possessions, “ or do worse by him if possible.”
334. Similar advice is put into the mouth of Bernardo
del Nero in the Dialogue Del Refgimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 221-222. Machiavelli, Disconi, i. 52, defends Soderini for not taking advice of the kind. See also 1st. d* Italia, Book xi. (vol. iii. pp. 20-23), where the arguments for nnd against permitting the return of the Medici are discussed.
335. Cf. No. 203.
336. Cf. No. 76 and note.
337. Cf. No. 60.
338. Cf. No. 60.
339. Cf. No. 78 and note. According to Nardi, 1storia
di Firenze (ed. Le Monnier), vol. ii. p. 61, Pope Clement, when Cardinal de' Medici, would often cite the saying of Piero Soderini: “ Non essere sapiente se non il paziente, 116 essere paziente se tion il sapiente.”
340. Cf. No. 43.
341. Cf. No. 46 and note. "Capo e fondamento di
tutto il bene e 1'avere nome e opinione di severita," £c.—Istruzioni delle cose di Romagna, Op. Ined.
»iii. 393
342. Cf. No. 372. See also Del Reggimento di Firenze,
Op. Ined. ii. 219-220: “Se tu tagli uno capo ancora che spenga lui, fai in luogo suo malcontenti molti; ne solo si fa inimici i suoi, ma ancora displace poi alia fine a tutti gli uomini di mezzo. Se mandi uno in esilio, accresci il numero di quegli che sempre cercano muovere umori contro alia citta,” &c.
343. Cf. Nos. 6, 117, 257.
344. Cf. No. 67.
345. Cf. No. 140.
NO.
346. Cf. No. 28.
347. Cf. No, 95 and note.
348-349. Cf. Nos. 52-53 and note. Machiavelli, Pr1ncipe, cap. 3, lays it down as a general rule, which never or rarely errs, “Che chi e cagione che uno diventi potente, rovina: perche quella potenza e causata da colui o con industria o con forza; e 1'una e 1'altra di queste due e sospetta a chi e divenuto potente.” Commines, Memoires, iii. 12, relates a curious conversation which he had with King Louis XI. on this subject.
350. Cf. No. 129.
351. Cf. No. 144 and note.
352. Cf. No. 86, and see Bacon, Advancement of
Learning. “Next to the well understanding and discerning of a man's self, there followeth the well opening and revealing a man's self; wherein we see nothing more usual than for the more able man to make the less show. . . . Ostentation, though it be to the first degree of vanity, seemeth to me rather a vice in manners than in policy.”
353. Cf. No. 29 and note.
354. Cf. No. 212 and note. In the Dialogue Del Reggi
mento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 17-18, Guicciardini's father Piero is made to say: “ Potrei dire secondo i filosofi che il governo di uno quando e buono e il migliore di tutti; ma quando e cattivo e il peggiore. Credo ancora che piu spesso si abbatta a essere cattivo il governo di uno che quello di molti, perchi ha piu licenza e manco ostaculi. Per6 vorrei che i filosofi mi avessino dichiarato questo passo . . . quale fussi migliore sorte di una citta che nascessi ora, e che si avessi a ordinare il governo suo, o che fussi ordinata in uno governo di uno, o in governo di molti.”
NO.
“ Especiallywhere it passes by inheritance.” See Machiavelli, Discorsi, i. n, where he cites Dante, Purg. vii. 121-123.
355. Cf. No. 165.
356. Cf. No. 94.
357. Omitted by Corbinelli, perhaps as reflecting on the
clergy.
358. Cf. Nos. 220, 330 and notes. "Still I maintain
that you ought not for this reason.“ See the Meditation in the Ricordi Autobiografici, Op. Ined. x. 120: ”Non voglio gia durare la fatica medesima in persuaderti che il sospetto che ha il popolo di te per reputarti amico de' Medici, passerc1; e che verra tempo, forse pii1 presto che tu non credi, che tu sarai in buono concetto e opinione. . . . Credo bene, anzi tengo per certo, che se la citta ara vita e non affoghi in questa tempesta grande che ora si mostra, non passera molto tempo che non solo non sarai rifiutato, ma che agli uomini parra forse avere fatto perdita di non si essere valuti in tempi tanto strani della virtu ed esperienza tua."
359. Cf. Nos. 4, agr.
360. Cf. No. 85. The Reflection supplies the date at
which it was originally written, namely, the 3rd February 1523 Florentine, 1524 common style, at which time Guicciardini was governing the Romagna for Pope Clement. “ Yet have not had the same success in commeree” An entry in the Ricordi Autobiografici, Op. Ined. x. 79, informs us that on the 2oth November 1509 Guicciardini received from his father-in-law, Alamanni Salviati, the balance of his wife's dower, which he expended partly in the purchase of clothes for her and for himself, and partly in the purchase of furniture for his new house. A sum of Jiorini d'oro
No.
which remained over, was invested in the name oT Piero, his father, “ nella bottega nostra della seta, • che canta in name di Jacopo mio fratello, Lorenzo di Bernardo Segni, e Compagnia.” It may be surmised that Guicciardini himself had an interest in this firm, and that it was not prospering at the time he wrote this Reflection. The advice in Reflection No. 280 as to the expediency of employing a good lawyer, and the remarks in Nos. 55, 278, and 325 on the subject of mercantile bankruptcy, may have been suggested by the author's own experience.
361. Corbinelli says that this Reflection is borrowed from
Seneca.
362. Cf. No. 34 and note. '' For we measure them
with reference to our lives, which are brief, not
to their term, which is long." Guicciardini here
follows Dante:—
" I^e vostre cose tutte hanno lor morte
Si come voi; ma celasi in alcuna,
Che dura molto, e le vite son corte."
Parad. xvi. 79-81.
363. Cf. No. 158 and note.
364. Cf. No. 80.
365. Cf. No. 109 and note. "And this is the reason
why the wise men and philosophers of antiquity,“ &c. So Bernardo del Nero in the Dialogue Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 74: ”E per6 mi ha detto Messer Marsilio [Ficino], da chi io ho pure imparato alcuna volta qualche cosa, che Platone quando fece quello libro che parla delle republiche, lo intitolo dalla Giustizia, volendo mostrare che era il fine principale che si aveva a cercare."
366. Cf. No. 89.
367. Cf. No. 57.
N0.
>1. Cf. No. 176.
7/0. But see No. 90, where the courtier is warned not to be too officious.
371. See Livy, Book xxiv. a5. "On the extinction
of a tyrant,“ &c. Compare Del Reggimento di Firenze, Op. Ined. ii. 215: ” Voltansi dunque tutti i malcontenti dello Stato che regge al tiranno vecchio; e se e mancato lui, alle sue reliquie . . . perche si spera piu facilmente potere riducere una tirannide,o uno dominio vecchio che fame uno di nuovo."
372. Cf. No. 342 and note.
373. Cf. No. 216 and note.
374. Cf. No. 108.
376. Cf. No. 38 and note.
377. Compare Del Reggimento di Firense, Op. Ined. ii.
157: “ Nessuno ha a Firenze tanti fondamenti che, se non e della linea di Cosimo, possa sperare di diventare capo; e chi aspira a questo, bisogna che ami la liberta e vivere populare, col mezzo del quale pu6 solo diventare capo con autorita publica.”
378. Cf. No. 121. Guicciardini here maintains the
opinion, challenged by Machiavelli, Principe, cap. 9, “Che chi fonda in sul popolo, fonda in sul fango.”
379. As to the “ Adorni and Fregosi of Genoa,” see
1st. dltalia. Book vii. (vol. ii. pp. 112-113). “Bernardo Rucellai.” Some account of the character and fortunes of this distinguished scholar, is given by Guicciardini in the Storia Fiorentina, Op. Ined. iii. 326-328.
380. Cf. No. 19.
381. See the character of Pope Julius in the lst. d'Italia,
Book xi. (vol. iii. p. 53). As to Pope Clement, see No. 59 and note. In the 1st. dItalia,
No.
Book xvi. (vol. iv. pp. 67-69), the character of
Clement is contrasted with that of Leo X.
383. Guicciardini in his Storia Fiorentina, cap. iv. Op.
Ined. iii. 34, observes that the family of the Pazzi, although one of the richest and most important in Florence, had at no time any great political influence; “per essere tenuti troppo superbi e altieri; la quale cosa gli uomini in una citta libera non possono comportare.”
384. Cf. No. 56.
385. Cf. No. 55.
386. Cf. No. 45 and note.
387. Cf. No. 119.
388. Cf. No. 106 and note.
389. Guicciardini here combats the opinion of Machia
velli, Discorsi, i. 29, that a people is more grateful than a prince. The subject is also handled in the Considerazioni sui Discorsi del Machiavelli, Op. Ined. i. 43; and see No. 378 and note.
390. Cf. Nos. 11, 265.
391. Cf. No. 54.
392. Cf. No. 23 and note.
393. Cf. No. 115 and note.
In an autograph entry inserted between Reflections Nos. 393 and 394, Guicciardini indicates that the transcription, commenced at the beginning of the year 1528 from earlier note-books, had been interrupted, and that the Reflections which follow were begun to be added in Apr1l 01 that year.
No.
396. Cf. Nos. 42, 217.
397. Cf. No. 188.
398. “// is of ancient wont in Florence,” Ire. As
had been noted by Dante:—
" E se ben ti ricorda, e vedi lume,
Vedrai te somigliante a quella inferma
Che non pu6 trovar posa in su le piume,
Ma con dar volta suo dolore scherma."
Purg. vi. 148-151.
399. Cf. No. 22 and note.
401. Cf. No. 254 and note.
402. Cf. No. 21 and note.
403. “ Oingenia magisacria” &c. Cited from letter of
Petrarch to Boccaccio. Guicciardini substitutes acria for cruda, the word used by Petrarch.
The edition of Guicciardini's Istoria d Italia from which the passages cited in these notes are taken, is that purporting to have been printed at Freiburg (but which was, in fact, printed in Florence), in the years 1775-1776, in four volumes quarto.
Other works of the author are cited from the Opere Inedite, published at Florence in ten volumes octavo, in the years 1857-1867, by Count Piero and Count Luigi Guicciardini, under the editorship of Signor Giuseppe Canestrini.