"Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires."

Lesson 1

"As experience shows, there have been many conspiracies but few of them have achieved their end. This is because the conspirator needs others to help him, and those have to be men who, he believes, are disgruntled. But as soon as he reveals his mind to a man who is dissatisfied he gives him the means to get satisfaction, because by telling all he knows the latter can hope to obtain all he wants. Seeing the sure profit to be won by informing, and the highly dangerous and doubtful alternative, a man must be either a rare friend indeed or else an utterly relentless enemy of the prince to keep faith with you."



Mrkim..... "keep it sane and light buddy" Mrkim, whats wrong with your mind?

"Nor were the Romans ever tempted to do what we hear every day on the lips of the "wise men" of our generation, to make the most of the present time; rather, they made the most of their own prowess and prudence."

shaDEz, hopefully this is what Mrkim was saying.......

..... a prince must be slow to take action, and must watch that he does not come to be afraid of his own shadow; his behavior must be tempered by humanity and prudence so that over confidence does not make him rash or excessive distrust make him unbearable.

It's time to RISE!