A Prince On The Subject Of The Art Of War
Raymond
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.... For among other evils which being unarmed
brings you, it causes you to be despised, and this is one of those
ignominies against which a prince ought to guard himself, as is shown
later on. Because there is nothing proportionate between the armed and
the unarmed; and it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield
obedience willingly to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man
should be secure among armed servants. Because, there being in the one
disdain and in the other suspicion, it is not possible for them to work
well together. And therefore a prince who does not understand the art
of war, over and above the other misfortunes already mentioned, cannot
be respected by his soldiers, nor can he rely on them. He ought never,
therefore, to have out of his thoughts this subject of war, and in
peace he should addict himself more to its exercise than in war; this
he can do in two ways, the one by action, the other by study.
Who said that?
"Geppetto" Karl Rove?
"Oily Dick" Cheney?
"Guns" Rumsfeld?
"Ears" Wolfowitz?
"The Prince of Darkness Perle?
"Dadddy's Boy" Bill Kristol?
Nope !
The Prince
Nicolo Machiavelli
CHAPTER XIV
60,608,582 Jingo Americans agree
We're going to war! Yippee!
"We don't want to fight
but by jingo if we do...
We've got the ships, we've got the men,
and got the money too!"