Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes
If the chief party ... be corrupt, you must follow their humor and indulge them, and in that case honesty and virtue are pernicious.
Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527, Florentine Statesman & Political Philosopher, The Prince
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
President’s did not have then the kinds of staff resources that they would get later. Roosevelt had friends and professional relationships with journalists, military men, business men and others whom he used for staff work and advice. Franklin Delano Roosevelt also used this technique extensively.
He warns particularly of politicians who believe their own lies.
Henry Wheeler Shaw 1818-1885
This is an important quotation because it was believed by most of the Founding Fathers and the American public until relatively recently. Presidential candidates would not think of publicly campaigning. The view was that anyone who was ambitious for power and authority should not be trusted with it. The idea was first stated by Plato and has been a major view of Western politics since. Many still believe it, but no one has come up with a practical alternative in a large jurisdiction where there is no way to know about the possible candidates without their initiative. Earlier American presidential candidates, although they did not campaign as we know it, got associates to do their campaigning for them. At Presidential nominating conventions, candidates would not even attend. Abraham Lincoln for example never attended the convention at which he got nominated, but he had associates lining up delagates and he was managing their efforts behind the scenes.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance diplomat, philosopher and writer, best known for The Prince (Il Principe), written in 1513. He has often been called the father of modern political philosophy and political science.
