PLATO The beginning is the most important part of the work.

Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Necessity, who is the mother of invention. I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning. Mankind censure injustice fearing that they may be the victims of it, and not because they shrink from committing it. The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life. The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness...This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector. The soul of man is immortal and imperishable. There are three arts which are concerned with all things: one which uses, another which makes, and a third which imitates them. Wealth is the parent of luxury and indolence, and poverty of meanness and viciousness, and both of discontent. When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of worse men.
Quote 1: "Age isn't easy for a good man if he's poor, nor will a bad man ever be cheerful with himself even if he's rich." Book 1, pg. 3, line 332

Quote 2: "It keeps him from having to leave life in the fear of owing debts to men or sacrifices to the gods." Book 1, pg. 5, line 331b Quote 3: "No knowledge considers or prescribes for the advantage of the stronger, but for that of the weaker, which it rules" Book 1, pg. 17, line 342d Quote 4: that "a just man tries to get the better of his unlike, but not of his like; and unjust man tries to get the better of both." Book 1, pg. 24, line 349d Quote 5: "What sort of thing is justice compared with injustice?" Book 1, pg. 26, line 351 Quote 6: "It concerns the way we ought to live." Book 1, pg. 28, line 352d Quote 7: "The arduous things that ought to be shunned for themselves but pursued for profit and a reputation based on appearance." Book 2, pg. 31, line 358 Quote 8: "Justice is practiced only under compulsion, as someone else's good - not our own." Book 2, pg. 33, line 360c Quote 9: "The unjust man enjoys life better than the just" Book 2, pg. 35, line 362c

Quote 10: "To become a good guardian, a man must be by nature fast, strong, and a spirited philosopher." Book 2, pg. 48, line 376e Quote 11: "God is the cause only of good." Book 2, pg. 52, line 380c Quote 12: "The gods shall not be misrepresented as sorcerers who change their shapes or as liars who mislead us in word or deed." Book 2, pg. 54, line 383 Quote 13: "No serious friendship should give even the appearance of going beyond that, to avoid reproaches of lack of education and taste." Book 3, pg. 73, line 403c Quote 14: "Variety in poetry breeds self-indulgence; in gymnastics, disease: simplicity there puts temperance in the soul; here it puts health in the body." Book 3, pg. 74, line 404e Quote 15: "Make sure that the city is neither small nor seemingly great, but sufficient and one." Book 4, pg. 90, line 423c Quote 16: "Power to preserve under all circumstances the right, lawful opinion of what is and is not to be feared" Book 4, pg. 97, line 430 Quote 17: "The desires of the worthless many are controlled by the desires and knowledge of the decent few" Book 4, pg. 98, line 431d Quote 18: "A person's desires force him to something to reason and he berates himself and gets indignant with the part that forces him, and his spirit allies with reason as though reason and desire were at civil war." Book 4, pg. 107, line 440 Quote 19: "Spirited part preserves through both

pleasures and pains the commands of reason about what is and is not to be feared." Book 4, pg. 110, line 442c Quote 20: "Justice, although it resembles a mirage, is really concerned with internal rather than external activity - with the true self and its business." Book 4, pg. 111, line 443c Quote 21: Justice is "establishing the parts of the soul so that they dominate and are dominated by each other according to nature, injustice so that they rule and are ruled contrary to nature." Book 4, pg. 112, line 444d Quote 22: "Each person must tend to the business that accords with his nature." Book 5, pg. 117, line 453b Quote 23: "The various talents are scattered throughout both sexes, and by nature women take part in all pursuits, as do men, except that in all of them the women is weaker." Book 5, pg. 120, line 455c Quote 24: "The helpful is beautiful; only the harmful is ugly." Book 5, pg. 122, line 457b Quote 25: "Shame forbids molesting a parent, and fear warns that the others will rush to the victim's defense as his sons, brothers and fathers." Book 5, pg. 130, line 465b Quote 26: "Until either philosophers become kings or those now kings and regents become genuine philosophers." Book 5, pg. 138, line 473c Quote 27: "Philosophers are the ones who can reach what always stays the same in every respect, and nonphilosophers the ones who cannot, who wonder among the many things that go in every direction." Book 6, pg. 146, line 484

Quote 28: "Evil is more opposed to the good than to the no-good" Book 6, pg. 154, line 491d Quote 29: and "great crimes and pure evil come only from vigorous natures perverted by upbringing; a weak nature never does anything great, good or evil." Book 6, pg. 154, line 491e Quote 30: "[E]ngage in adolescent philosophy and education as boys and young men, and give special attention to their bodies as they grow up, to acquire a helper for philosophy. As the soul begins to mature with the passing years, tighten up its exercise, and when their strength declines and exempts them from military and political duties, then be turned out to pasture to do nothing - except as a sideline - but practice philosophy, if they're to live happily here and crown their lives when they die with their fitting portion over there." Book 6, pg. 160, line 498b Quote 31: "When it rests on the place lit by truth and what is, it perceives it and knows it and seems to have intelligence. But in the place mingled with darkness, the region of becoming and passing away it darkens and conjectures, changes its opinions up and down and now appears to have no intelligence." Book 6, pg.170, line 508d Quote 32: "[M]en like that would firmly believe truth to be the shadows of the artificial objects." Book 7, pg. 176, line 515c Quote 33: "The upward journey and the viewing of the upward world as the soul's ascent to the intelligible." Book 7, pg. 177, line 517b Quote 34: "A city whose future rulers are the least eager to rule will necessarily be the best governed and freest

from strife, and the one with opposite rulers the worst." Book 7, pg. 181, line 520d Quote 35: "He turned the rule of his soul over to its victory-loving, middle, spirited part and became a highminded lover of honor." Book 8, pg. 208, line 550b Quote 36: "Whether or not they're seen for what they are by all gods and men" Book 9, pg. 238, line 580c Quote 37: "[W]hich more fully is: something that partakes of the laws alike, immortal and true, is that way itself, and appears in things like that, or something that partakes of and appear in the never alike and mortal, and is that way itself?" Book 9, pg. 243, line 585c Quote 38: "The 'phantom' of a tyrant's pleasure must then be a plane number measured on its length - Which raised to its second and then to its third power, will clearly give the distance." Book 9, pg. 246, line 587d Quote 39: "[I]mitation lies far from the truth and can make all things because it captures only a tiny bit of each one, and that but a phantom." Book 10, pg. 255, line 598b Quote 40: "When they had been on the meadow seven days, they must get up and march on the eighth, arriving after four more from where they beheld a straight line, like a pillar, stretched from above, all through heaven and earth, most like the rainbow, but purer and brighter. Book 10, pg. 273, line 616b

ARISTOTLE

A state is not a mere society, having a common place, established for the prevention of mutual crime and for the sake of exchange...Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not of mere companionship.
Aristotle, Politics

Again, men in general desire the good, and not merely what their fathers had.
Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Desire]

Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered.
Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Laws]

He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
Aristotle, Politics

If liberty and equality, as is thought by some are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.
Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Democracy] [Equality]

It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.
Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Desire]

Law is order, and good law is good order.

Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Laws]

Man is by nature a political animal.

Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Politics]

Nature does nothing uselessly.

Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Nature]

The basis of a democratic state is liberty.

]The best political community is formed by citizens of the

middle class.
Aristotle, Politics - More quotations on: [Community]

They should rule who are able to rule best.

Aristotle, Politics

Well begun is half done.

Aristotle, Politics (quoting a proverb)

Machiavelli

A prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study but war and it organization and discipline, for that is the only art that is necessary to one who commands.

Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

There is no other way of guarding oneself against flattery than by letting men understand that they will not offend you by speaking the truth; but when everyone can tell you the truth, you lose their respect.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the marjority of men live content.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it.
Niccolo Machiavelli, Discourse upon the First Ten Books of Livy St. Augustine
St. Augustine evidently originated the phrase "love the sinner, hate the sin", which he tied in with a privative notion of evil: For this reason, the man who lives by God's standards and not by man's, must needs be a lover of the good, and it follows that he must hate what is evil. Further, since no one is evil by nature, but anyone who is evil is evil because of a perversion of nature, the man who lives by God's standards has a duty of "perfect hatred" (Psalm 139:22) towards those who are evil; that is to say, he should not hate the person because of the fault, nor should he love the fault because of the person. He should hate the fault, but love the man. And when the fault has been cured there will remain only what he ought to love, nothing that he should hate. (14:6, Penguin ed., transl. Bettenson) Thus, in this universal catastrophe, the sufferings of Christians have tended to their moral improvement, because they viewed them with eyes of faith. I, 9 Virtue and vice are not the same, even if they undergo the same torment. I, 8 The violence which assails good men to test them, to cleanse and purify them, effects in the wicked their condemnation, ruin, and annihilation. I, 8 The good man, though a slave, is free; the wicked, though he reigns, is a slave, and not the slave of a single man, but what is worse the slave of as many masters as he has vices. IV, 3 Six is a number perfect in itself, and not because God created the world in six days; rather the contrary is true. God created the

world in six days because this number is perfect, and it would remain perfect, even if the work of the six days did not exist. The City of God (412 - 27)

When the will abandons what is above itself and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil -- not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked. Therefore it is not an inferior thing which has made the will evil, but it is itself which has become so by wickedly and inordinately desiring an inferior thing. ... St. Augustine, The City of God
Rousseau

Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.

Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract

The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.
Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, 1762 "My design in this treatise is to enquire whether, taking men such as they are, and such laws as they may be made, it is not possible to establish some just and certain rule for the administration of the civil order." Introduction to Book 1, p. 5 "Man is born free, and yet we see him everywhere in chains. Those who believe themselves the masters of others cease not to be even greater slaves than the people they govern." Book 1, Chapter 1, p. 5. "[Man's] first law is that of self-preservation, his first cares those which he owes to himself; and as soon as he has attained the age of reason, being the only judge of

the means proper to preserve himself, he becomes at once his own master." Book 1, Chapter 2, p. 6. Consider this quote from Book 1, Chapter 9: "...instead of destroying the natural equality of mankind, the [social contract] substitutes ... a moral and legal equality for that physical inequality which nature placed among men, and that, let men be ever so unequal in strength or in genius, they are all equalized by convention and legal right." Debate the merits of this perspective - is it valid or invalid? How effective is it in practice, as compared to the author's theory? What other inequalities are either ignored or addressed by the contract? Consider this quote from Book 2, Chapter 5: "... when [the government] says to [an individual] 'It is expedient for the State that thou shouldst die, he ought to die, because it is only on that condition that he has enjoyed his security up to.....

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they. How did this change come about? I do not know. [But think about this in the context of the second Discourse!] What can make it legitimate? That question I think I can answer. (I.1) The problem is to find a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole force the person and goods of each associate, and in which each, while uniting himself with all, may still obey himself alone, and remain as free as before. This is the fundamental problem of which the social contract provides the solution. (I.6) The advantage of making this transition is immense. (See section 8.)

As Ben pointed out, the basic idea of the social compact is that since everyone plays a part in making the laws, the laws express the "general will," the will of all people. Thus every person obeys himself, since he is a legislator as well as a subject. Or rather, all the people obey all. Instead of destroying natural equality, the fundamental compact substitutes, for such physical inequality as nature may have set up between men, an equality that is moral and legitimate, and that men, who may be unequal in strength or intelligence, become every one equal by convention and legal right. (I.9) Some more important passages that you do not have in your reading . . . If we ask in what precisely consists the greatest good of all, which should be the end of every system of legislation, we shall find it reduce itself to two main objects, liberty and equality -- liberty, because all particular dependence means so much force taken from the body of the State, and equality, because liberty cannot exist without it. . . . by equality, we should understand, not that the degrees of power and riches are to be absolutely identical for everybody; but that power shall never be great enough for violence, and shall always be exercised by virtue of rank and law; and that, in respect of riches, no citizen shall every be wealthy enough to buy another, and none poor enough to be forced to sell himself, which implies, on the part of the great, moderation in goods and position, and, on the side of the common sort, moderation in avarice and covetousness. (II.11) The social contract sets up among the citizens an equality of such a kind, that they all bind themselves to observe the same conditions and should therefore all enjoy the same rights. Thus, from the very nature of the compact, every act of Sovereignty, i.e. every authentic act of the general will, binds or favors all the citizens equally; so that the Sovereign recognizes only the body of the nation, and

draws no distinctions between those of whom it is made up. What, then, strictly speaking is an act of Sovereignty? It is not a convention between a superior and an inferior, but a convention between the body and each of its members. It is legitimate, because based on the social contract, and equitable, because common to all; useful, because it can have no other object than the common good, and stable, because guaranteed by the public force and the supreme power. So long as the subjects have to submit only to conventions of this sort, they obey no one but their own will. . . . . . . . . . When these distinctions have once been admitted, it is seen to be so untrue that there is, in the social contract, any real renunciation on the part of the individuals, that the position in which they find themselves as a result of the contract is really preferable to that in which they were before. Instead of a renunciation, they have made an advantageous exchange: instead of an uncertain and precarious way of living, they have got one that is better and more secure; instead of natural independence they have got liberty . . .. Their very life, which they have devoted to the State, is by it constantly protected . . .. (II.4, 207) Practical concerns: Majority rule There is but one law which, from its nature, needs unanimous consent. This is the social compact; for civil association is the most voluntary of all acts. Every man being born free and his own master, no one, under any pretext whatsoever, can make any man subject without his consent . . .. If then there are opponents when the social compact is made, their opposition does not invalidate the contract, but merely prevents them from being included in it. They are foreigners among citizens. When the State is instituted, residence constitutes consent; to dwell within its territory is to submit to the Sovereign. Apart from this primitive context, the vote of the majority always binds all the rest. This follows from the contract itself. But it is asked how a man can be both free and forced to conform to wills that are not his own. How are the opponents at once free and subject to laws they have not agreed to? I retort

that the question is wrongly put. The citizen gives his consent to all the laws, including those which are passed in spite of his opposition, and even those which punish him when he dares to break any of them. The constant will of all the members of the State is the general will, by virtue of it they are citizens and free. When in the popular assembly a law is proposed, what the people is asked is not exactly whether it approves or rejects the proposal, but whether it is in conformity with the general will, which is their will. Each man, in giving his vote, states his opinion on that point; and the general will is found by counting the votes. When therefore the opinion that is contrary to my own prevails, this provides neither more nor less than that I was mistaken, and that what I though to be the general will was not so. (IV.2 J.S mill

Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Over one's mind and over one's body the individual is sovereign.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the apelike one of imitation. He who chooses his plan for himself,

employs all his faculties. He must use observation to see, reasoning and judgment to foresee, activity to gather materials for decision, discrimination to decide, and when he has decided, firmness and self-control to hold to his deliberate decision.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study, and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859 Machiavelli The prince
Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge. Ch. 3; Variant translation: Never do an enemy a small injury. The Romans never allowed a trouble spot to remain simply to avoid

going to war over it, because they knew that wars don't just go away, they are only postponed to someone else's advantage. Therefore, they made war with Philip and Antiochus in Greece, in order not to have to fight them in Italy... They never went by that saying which you constantly hear from the wiseacres of our day, that time heals all things. They trusted rather their own character and prudence knowing perfectly well that time contains the seeds of all things, good as well as bad. Ch. 3 (as translated by RM Adams) Variants [these can seem to generalize the circumstances in ways that the translation above does not.]: The Romans, foreseeing troubles, dealt with them at once, and, even to avoid a war, would not let them come to a head, for they knew that war is not to be avoided, but is only put off to the advantage of others. There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others. If someone puts up the argument that King Louis gave the Romagna to Pope Alexander, and the kingdom of Naples to Spain, in order to avoid a war, I would answer as I did before: that you should never let things get out of hand in order to avoid war. You don't avoid such a war, you merely postpone it, to your own disadvantage. Ch. 3 (as translated by RM Adams) It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them. Ch. 6

Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed. Ch. 6 From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. Ch. 8 The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws. Ch. 12 A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on the contrary, it is seen that when princes have thought more of ease than of arms they have lost their states. And the first cause of your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to acquire a state is to be master of the art. Ch. 14; Variant: A prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study but war and it organization and discipline, for that is the only art that is necessary to one who commands. Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised. Ch. 14 Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons what is done for

what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin than his preservation. Ch. 15 He ought to be slow to believe and to act, nor should he himself show fear, but proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence may not make him incautious and too much distrust render him intolerable. Ch 17 The prince who relies upon their words, without having otherwise provided for his security, is ruined; for friendships that are won by awards, and not by greatness and nobility of soul, although deserved, yet are not real, and cannot be depended upon in time of adversity. Ch. 17 A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves. Ch. 17 Every one admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to keep faith, and to live with integrity and not with craft. Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft, and in the end have overcome those who have relied on their word. Ch. 18. Concerning the Way in which Princes should keep Faith (as translated by W. K. Marriott) Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them. Ch. 18. You must know there are two ways of contesting, the one by the law, the

other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second. Ch. 18. A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise. Ch. 18. The prince must consider, as has been in part said before, how to avoid those things which will make him hated or contemptible; and as often as he shall have succeeded he will have fulfilled his part, and he need not fear any danger in other reproaches. It makes him hated above all things, as I have said, to be rapacious, and to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain. And when neither their property nor honour is touched, the majority of men live content, and he has only to contend with the ambition of a few, whom he can curb with ease in many ways. It makes him contemptible to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate, mean-spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should guard himself as from a rock; and he should endeavour to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity, and fortitude; and in his private dealings with his subjects let him show that his judgments are irrevocable, and maintain himself in such reputation that no one can hope either to deceive him or to get round him. That prince is highly esteemed who conveys this impression of himself, and he who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against; for, provided it is well known that he is an excellent man and revered by his people, he can only be attacked with difficulty. Ch. 19 "That one should avoid being despised and hated" A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers. From the latter he is defended by being well armed and having good allies, and if he is well armed he will have good friends, and affairs will always remain quiet within when they are quiet without, unless

they should have been already disturbed by conspiracy; and even should affairs outside be disturbed, if he has carried out his preparations and has lived as I have said, as long as he does not despair, he will resist every attack. Ch. 19; Variant: Against foreign powers, a prince can defend himself with good weapons and good friends; if he has good weapons, he will never lack for good friends. (as translated by RM Adams) The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him; and when they are capable and faithful he may always be considered wise, because he has known how to recognize the capable and to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise one cannot form a good opinion of him, for the prime error which he made was in choosing them. (as tranlsated by W. K. Marriott) Ch. 22. Variant translation: The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless. Ch. 22 There is no other way of guarding oneself against flattery than by letting men understand that they will not offend you by speaking the truth; but when everyone can tell you the truth, you lose their respect. Ch. 23 Io iudico bene questo, che sia meglio essere impetuoso che respettivo; perch la fortuna donna, et necessario, volendola tenere sotto, batterla et urtarla. E si vede che la si lascia pi vincere da questi, che da quelli che freddamente procedano. E per sempre, come

donna, amica de' giovani, perch sono meno respettivi, pi feroci e con pi audacia la comandano. Translation: I conclude, then, that so long as Fortune varies and men stand still, they will prosper while they suit the times, and fail when they do not. But I do feel this: that it is better to be rash than timid, for Fortune is a woman, and the man who wants to hold her down must beat and bully her. We see that she yields more often to men of this stripe than to those who come coldly toward her. Ch. 25 (as translated by RM Adams) Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great. Ch. 26 God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us. Ch. 26 Machiavelli Discourses As all those have shown who have discussed civil institutions, and as every history is full of examples, it is necessary to whoever arranges to found a Republic and establish laws in it, to presuppose that all men are bad and that they will use their malignity of mind every time they have the opportunity; and if such malignity is hidden for a time, it proceeds from the unknown reason that would not be known because the experience of the contrary had not been seen, but time, which is said to be the father of every truth, will cause it to be discovered. Book 1, Ch. 3 Variant portion: Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it. Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it; but when they are free to choose and can do just as they please, confusion and disorder become rampant. Book 1, Ch. 3 (as translated by L.J. Walker & B. Crick)

The demands of a free populace, too, are very seldom harmful to liberty, for they are due either to the populace being oppressed or to the suspicious that it is going to be oppressed... and, should these impressions be false, a remedy is provided in the public platform on which some man of standing can get up, appeal to the crowd, and show that it is mistaken. And though, as Tully remarks, the populace may be ignorant, it is capable of grasping the truth and readily yields when a man, worthy of confidence, lays the truth before it. Book 1, Ch. 4 (as translated by LJ Walker & B Crick) So in all human affairs one notices, if one examines them closely, that it is impossible to remove one inconvenience without another emerging. Book 1, Ch. 6 (as translated by LJ Walker & B Crick) I am firmly convinced, therefore, that to set up a republic which is to last a long time, the way to set about it is to constitute it as Sparta and Venice were constituted; to place it in a strong position, and so to fortify it that no one will dream of taking it by a sudden assault; and, on the other hand, not to make it so large as to appear formidable to its neighbors. It should in this way be able to enjoy its form of government for a long time. For war is made on a commonwealth for two reasons: to subjugate it, and for fear of being subjugated by it. Book 1, Ch. 6 (as translated by LJ Walker & B Crick) The people resemble a wild beast, which, naturally fierce and accustomed to live in the woods, has been brought up, as it were, in a prison and in servitude, and having by accident got its liberty, not being accustomed to search for its food, and not knowing where to conceal itself, easily becomes the prey of the first who seeks to incarcerate it again. Book 1, Ch. 16 It was the verdict of ancient writers that men afflict themselves in evil and weary themselves in the good, and that the same effects result from both of these passions. For whenever men are not obliged to fight

from necessity, they fight from ambition; which is so powerful in human breasts, that it never leaves them no matter to what rank they rise. The reason is that nature has so created men that they are able to desire everything but are not able to attain everything: so that the desire being always greater than the acquisition, there results discontent with the possession and little satisfaction to themselves from it. From this arises the changes in their fortunes; for as men desire, some to have more, some in fear of losing their acquisition, there ensues enmity and war, from which results the ruin of that province and the elevation of another. Book 1, Ch. 37 Variant: Nature has so contrived that to men, though all things are objects of desire, not all things are attainable; so that desire always exceeds the power of attainment, with the result that men are ill-content with what they possess and their present state brings them little satisfaction. Hence arise the vicissitudes of their fortune. (as translated by LJ Walker & B Crick) When Scipio became consul and was keen on getting the province of Africa, promising that Carthage should be completely destroyed, and the senate would not agree to this because Fabius Maximus was against it, he threatened to appeal to the people, for he knew full well how pleasing such projects are to the populace. Book 1, Ch. 53 (as translated by LJ Walker & B Crick) the end of the republic is to enervate and to weaken all other bodies so as to increase its own body. Book 2, Ch. 3 (translation by Mansfield and Tarcov) John Locke Two

Treatises of Government (1689)

The imagination is always restless and suggests a variety of thoughts, and the will, reason being laid aside, is ready for every extravagant project; and in this State, he that goes farthest out of the way, is thought fittest to lead, and is sure of most followers: And when Fashion hath once Established, what Folly or craft began, Custom

makes it Sacred, and 'twill be thought impudence or madness, to contradict or question it. He that will impartially survey the Nations of the World, will find so much of the Governments, Religion, and Manners brought in and continued amongst them by these means, that they will have but little Reverence for the Practices which are in use and credit amongst Men. First Treatise of Government If man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom? Second Treatise of Government, Ch. IX, sec. 123 Wherever Law ends, Tyranny begins. Second Treatise of Government, Sec. 202 To understand political power aright, and derive from it its original, we must consider what estate all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of Nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man. Second Treatise of Government, Ch. II, sec. 4 The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions. Second Treatise of Government, Ch. II, sec. 6 Freedom of Men under Government is, to have a standing Rule to live by, common to every one of that Society, and made by the Legislative Power erected in it; a Liberty to follow my own Will in all things, where the Rule prescribes not; and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, Arbitrary Will of another Man: as Freedom of Nature is, to be under no other restraint but the Law of Nature. Second Treatise of Civil Government, Ch. IV, sec. 22

...a criminal who, having renounced reason...hath, by the unjust violence and slaughter he hath committed upon one, declared war against all mankind, and therefore may be destroyed as a lion or tyger, one of those wild savage beasts with whom men can have no society nor security. And upon this is grounded the great law of Nature, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Second Treatise of Civil Government And because it may be too great a temptation to human frailty, apt to grasp at power, for the same persons, who have the power of making laws, to have also in their hands the power to execute them, whereby they may exempt themselves from obedience to the laws they make, and suit the law, both in its making, and execution, to their own private advantage Second Treatise of Civil Government, Ch. XII sec. 143 As usurpation is the exercise of power which another has a right to, so tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right, which nobody can have a right to. Second Treatise of Government, Ch. XVIII, sec. 199 Thomas Hobbes Leviathan

Leviathan (1651)
The condition of Man...is a condition of Warre of every one against every one. Pt. I, Ch. 14 Words are wise mens counters, they do but reckon by them; but they are the money of fools, that value them by the authority of an Aristotle, a Cicero, or a Thomas, or any other doctor whatsoever, if but a man. Pt. I, Ch. 4 Understanding being nothing else, but conception caused by Speech. Pt. I, Ch. 4 Science is the knowledge of Consequences, and dependence of one fact upon another

Pt. I, Ch. 5 The privilege of absurdity; to which no living creature is subject but man only. Pt. I, Ch. 5 Sudden glory is the passion which maketh those grimaces called laughter. Pt. I, Ch. 6 Hope For Appetite with an opinion of attaining, is called HOPE. Despaire The same, without such opinion, DESPAIRE. Pt. I, Ch. 6 Desire, to know why, and how, CURIOSITY; such as is in no living creature but Man; so that Man is distinguished, not only by his Reason; but also by this singular Passion from other Animals; in whom the appetite of food, and other pleasures of Sense, by predominance, take away the care of knowing causes; which is a Lust of the mind, that by a perseverance of delight in the continual and indefatigable generation of Knowledge, exceedeth the short vehemence of any carnal Pleasure. Pt. I, Ch. 6 The secret thoughts of a man run over all things, holy, prophane, clean, obscene, grave, and light, without shame, or blame Pt. I, Ch. 8 The "value" or "worth" of a man is, as of all other things, his price; that is to say, so much as would be given for the use of his power. Pt. I, Ch. 10 By Manners, I mean not here decency of behaviour; as how one man should salute another, or how a man should wash his mouth, or pick his teeth before company, and such other points of the small morals; but those qualities of mankind that concern their living together in peace and unity. To which end we are to consider that the felicity of this life consisteth not in the repose of a mind satisfied. For there is no such finis ultimus [utmost aim] nor summum bonum [greatest good] as is spoken of in the books of the old moral philosophers. Nor

can a man any more live whose desires are at an end than he whose senses and imaginations are at a stand. Pt. I, Ch. 11 Felicity is a continual progress of the desire from one object to another, the attaining of the former being still but the way to the latter.The cause whereof is that the object of man's desire is not to enjoy once only, and for one instant of time, but to assure forever the way of his future desire. And therefore the voluntary actions and inclinations of all men tend not only to the procuring, but also to the assuring of a contented life, and differ only in the way, which ariseth partly from the diversity of passions in diverse men, and partly from the difference of the knowledge or opinion each one has of the causes which produce the effect desired. Pt. I, Ch. 11 In the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death. And the cause of this is not always that a man hopes for a more intensive delight than he has already attained to, or that he cannot be content with a moderate power, but because he cannot assure the power and means to live well, which he hath present, without the acquisition of more. Pt. I, Ch. 11 Man gives indifferent names to one and the same thing from the difference of their own passions; as they that approve a private opinion call it opinion; but they that mislike it, heresy: and yet heresy signifies no more than private opinion. Pt. I, Ch. 11 And this Feare of things invisible, is the naturall Seed of that, which every one in himself calleth Religion; and in them that worship, or feare that Power otherwise than they do, Superstition. Pt. I, Ch. 11 In these four things, opinion of ghosts, ignorance of second causes, devotions towards what men fear, and taking of things casual for

prognostics, consisteth the natural seed of religion; which by reason of the different fancies, judgements, and passions of several men, hath grown up into ceremonies so different, that those which are used by one man, are for the most part ridiculous to another. Pt. I, Ch. 12 Of religion For Prudence, is but Experience; which equal time, equally bestows on all men, in those things they equally apply themselves unto. Pt. I, Ch. 13 For such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; Yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves: For they see their own wit at hand, and other men's at a distance. Pt. I, Ch. 13 During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man. Pt. I, Ch. 13 For War, consisteth not in Battell onely, or the act of fighting; but in a tract of time, wherein the Will to contend by Battell is sufficiently known: and therefore the notion of Time, is to be considered in the nature of Warre; as it is in the nature of Weather. Pt. I, Ch. 13 To this war of every man against every man, this also in consequent; that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law, where no law, no injustice. Force, and fraud, are in war the cardinal virtues. Pt. I, Ch. 13 [In a state of war] No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Pt. I, Ch. 13 Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of Warre, where every man is Enemy to every man; the same is consequent to the time, wherein men live without other security, than what their own strength, and their own invention shall furnish them withall. In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short. The RIGHT OF NATURE, which Writers commonly call Jus Naturale, is the Liberty each man hath, to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own Nature; that is to say, of his own Life; and consequently, of doing any thing, which in his own Judgement, and Reason, he shall conceive to be the aptest means thereunto. Pt. I, Ch. 14 As first a man cannot lay down the right of resisting them, that assault him by force, to take away his life; because he cannot be understood to aim thereby, at any Good to himself. Pt. I, Ch. 14 That a man be willing, when others are so too, as farre-forth, as for Peace, and defence of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself. Pt. I, Ch. 14 Moral philosophy is nothing else but the science of what is good, and evil, in the conversation, and society of mankind. Good, and evil, are names that signify our appetites, and aversions; which in different

tempers, customs, and doctrines of men, are different. Pt. I, Ch. 15 Do not that to another, which thou wouldst not have done to thyself. Original form: A Rule, By Which The Laws Of Nature May Easily Be Examined And though this may seem too subtile a deduction of the Lawes of Nature, to be taken notice of by all men; whereof the most part are too busie in getting food, and the rest too negligent to understand; yet to leave all men unexcusable, they have been contracted into one easie sum, intelligible even to the meanest capacity; and that is, "Do not that to another, which thou wouldest not have done to thy selfe;" which sheweth him, that he has no more to do in learning the Lawes of Nature, but, when weighing the actions of other men with his own, they seem too heavy, to put them into the other part of the ballance, and his own into their place, that his own passions, and selfe-love, may adde nothing to the weight; and then there is none of these Lawes of Nature that will not appear unto him very reasonable. Pt. I, Ch. 15 For the Lawes of Nature (as Justice, Equity, Modesty, Mercy, and (in summe) Doing To Others, As Wee Would Be Done To,) if themselves, without the terrour of some Power, to cause them to be observed, are contrary to our naturall Passions, that carry us to Partiality, Pride, Revenge, and the like. And Covenants, without the Sword, are but Words, and of no strength to secure a man at all. Pt. I, Ch. 17 As in the presence of the Master, the Servants are equall, and without any honour at all; So are the Subjects, in the presence of the Soveraign. And though they shine some more, some lesse, when they are out of his sight; yet in his presence, they shine no more than the Starres in presence of the Sun. Pt. I, Ch. 18

No man's error becomes his own Law; nor obliges him to persist in it. Pt. II, ch. 26 The source of every crime, is some defect of the understanding; or some error in reasoning; or some sudden force of the passions. Pt. II, ch. 27 Another doctrine repugnant to civil society, is that whatsoever a man does against his conscience, is sin; and it dependeth on the presumption of making himself judge of good and evil. For a man's conscience and his judgement are the same thing, and as the judgement, so also the conscience may be erroneous. Pt. II, Ch. 29 Corporations may lesser commonwealths in the bowels of a greater, like worms in the entrails of a natural man. Pt. II, Ch. 29 For a mans Conscience, and his Judgement is the same thing; and as the Judgement, so also the Conscience may be erroneous. Pt. II, Ch. 29 Intemperance is naturally punished with diseases; rashness, with mischance; injustice; with violence of enemies; pride, with ruin; cowardice, with oppression; and rebellion, with slaughter. Pt. II, Ch. 31 Leisure is the mother of philosophy. Original: There have been divers true, generall, and profitable Speculations from the beginning; as being the naturall plants of humane Reason: But they were at first but few in number; men lived upon grosse Experience; there was no Method; that is to say, no Sowing, nor Planting of Knowledge by it self, apart from the Weeds, and common Plants of Errour and Conjecture: And the cause of it being the want of leisure from procuring the necessities of life, and defending themselves against their neighbours, it was impossible, till the erecting of great Common-wealths, it should be otherwise. Leisure is the mother of Philosophy; and Common-wealth, the mother of

Peace, and Leisure: Where first were great and flourishing Cities, there was first the study of Philosophy. Pt. IV, Ch. 46 And if a man consider the original of this great ecclesiastical dominion, he will easily perceive, that the Papacy, is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof: for so did the Papacy start up on a sudden out of the ruins of that heathen power. Pt. IV, Ch. 47 The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living. Review and Conclusion Such truth as opposeth no man's profit nor pleasure is to all men welcome. Review and Conclusion Karl Marx The communist manifesto Das Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (1848), by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF THE WORLD, UNITE! All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.

Karl Marx statue

The theory of Communism may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.

Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeosis epoch from all earlier ones. It [the bourgeoisie] has pitilessly torn asunder the motley of ties that bound man to his "natural superiors," and left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous "cash payment." The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. A spectre is haunting Europe; the spectre of Communism. What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own gravediggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. Communism deprives no man of the ability to appropriate the fruits of his labour. The only thing it deprives him of is the ability to enslave others by means of such appropriations. But every class struggle is a political struggle. Law, morality, religion, are to him so many bourgeois prejudices, behind which lurk in ambush just as many bourgeois interests. All that we want to do away with is the miserable character of this appropriation, under which the labourer lives merely to increase capital, and allowed to live only so far as the interest to the ruling class requires it. When people speak of ideas that revolutionize society, they do but express the fact that within the old society, the elements of a new one have been created. The Communist revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional property relations; no wonder that its development involves the most radical rupture with traditional ideas. The working men have no country. We cannot take away from them what they have not got. Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class.

No sooner is the exploitation of the labourer by the manufacturer, so far, at an end, that he receives his wages in cash, than he is set upon by the other portions of the bourgeoisie, the landlord, the shopkeeper, the pawnbroker, etc. In place of the bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, shall we have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.

Karl Marx statue

A class of labourers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labour increase capital. These labourers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity, like every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market. He becomes an appendage of the machine, and it is only the most simple, most monotonous, and most easily acquired knack, that is required of him. Hence, the cost of production of a workman is restricted, almost entirely, to the means of subsistence that he requires for his maintenance.