#Niccolò Machiavelli

[stromuprisahat]

For the hereditary prince has less cause and less necessity to offend; hence it happens that he will be more loved; and unless extraordinary vices cause him to be hated, it is reasonable to expect that his subjects will be naturally well disposed towards him; and in the antiquity and duration of his rule the memories and motives that make for change are lost, for one change always leaves the toothing for another.

The Prince- Chapter II (Niccolò Machiavelli)

Nikolai as a ruler is somehow reaping benefits of both.

He is a Lantsov- whether only by name or not-, therefore his ascension has tradition to back it up. His elder brother's dead and their father "too sick to rule" anyway. Both helpfully provided by the Darkling's actions.

Darkles also disrupted the line of Lantsov Tsars- although only for a few months- and while it wasn't enough to introduce the changes he might've liked, it is the first change, opening doors to Nikolai's reforms.

#Niccolò Machiavelli #The Prince #Chapter II: Concerning Hereditary Principalities #The Darkling #Nikolai Lantsov #grishanalyticritical #Seeing Grishaverse in other works #Ravka #V #quotes #books

[poorshadowspaintedqueens]

Didn’t Robert Baratheon invalidate his own claim by pardoning Tywin, Gregor and Lorch after murdering Elia and her children, as well as rewarding the Lannisters for their treachery? How is that different to Aerys’ tyranny?

As is so often the case in these matters...it depends on who you ask.

People can split hairs all they want about inheritance and succession, but it wasn't Robert's Targaryen connections that got him the throne. It was the fact that a coalition of powerful lords agreed that he should be king, and were willing to put themselves and their armies on the line to push his claim. Robert became king by right of conquest as soon as he killed Rhaegar at the Trident. It may not have been as dramatic as the Field of Fire, but the basic premise is the same. See also Henry of Richmond becoming king of England in 1485 after King Richard III was killed in battle.

That being said, although Robert was king de facto, he was still not king de jure. He hadn't been officially crowned and anointed, he did not occupy the capital city of King's Landing, and he was unable to sit on the Iron Throne. All three of those symbolically important elements still applied to Aerys, and Aerys still had two male heirs: Rhaegar's son Aegon, and his own son Viserys.

It is also worth remembering that, for the majority of the Rebellion, the Lannisters did not explicitly declare for one side or the other. Tywin had decamped to Casterly Rock after the tourney at Harrenhal and, so far as we know, did not leave his lands until his army marched along the Gold Road to King's Landing. He must already have left Casterly Rock before the Battle of the Trident, considering how long a march it would have been, so it's not actually clear whose side he intended to join. If Rhaegar had managed to win the battle, I'm certain Tywin would have deferred to him, especially since it's hinted that he intended to depose Aerys. But that isn't what happened.

Instead, Tywin found himself in the unenviable position of having to prove his loyalty to a new regime after having spent two decades propping up the old. He may well have even engineered the sack of King's Landing in part to cover up his plan to kill Rhaegar's children, perhaps intending to make their deaths look like collateral damage. (Though I might be giving him too much credit here.)

Tywin offers Tyrion this explanation for his choice to sack King's Landing in A Storm of Swords:

We had come late to Robert's cause. It was necessary to demonstrate our loyalty. When I laid those bodies before the throne, no man could doubt that we had forsaken House Targaryen forever. And Robert's relief was palpable. As stupid as he was, even he knew Rhaegar's children had to die if his throne was ever to be secure. Yet he saw himself as a hero, and heroes do not kill children [...] I grant you, it was done too brutally. Elia need not have been harmed at all, that was sheer folly. By herself she was nothing.

Tywin isn't wrong, at least not about Robert's image of himself. Robert is willing to have children die on his orders (c.f. Daenerys in AGOT), and Ned's narration confirms that he certainly didn't express any guilt about the deaths of Aegon and Rhaenys ("I see no children, only dragonspawn," etc). We know Ned--and a number of others on the coalition side--pushed for Robert to have Tywin executed, or sent to the Wall for his war crimes. So why didn't he? Even Machiavelli would have advised that he do so.

In Chapter 7 of Il Principe [The Prince], Niccolò Machiavelli offers a striking fanboy anecdote about Cesare Borgia's conquest of the Romagna. He describes the man Cesare appointed to establish order across the province as "a cruel and vigorous man, to whom he gave absolute powers," and relates that "in short order this man pacified and unified the whole district, winning thereby great renown" (21). However, as soon as the job was done,

the duke decided such excessive authority was no longer necessary, and feared it might become odious; so he set up a civil court in the middle of the province, with an excellent judge and a representative from each city. And because he knew that the recent harshness had generated some hatred, in order to clear the minds of the people and gain them over to his cause completely, he determined to make plain that whatever cruelty had occurred had come, not from him, but from the brutal character of the minister. Taking a proper occasion, therefore, he had him placed on the public square of Cesena one morning, in two pieces, with a piece of wood beside him and a bloody knife. The ferocity of this scene left the people at once stunned and satisfied.

Even if he was reluctant to punish the lord of the Westerlands, Robert could easily have had Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch either executed or sent to the Wall. They were, after all, the ones with literal blood on their hands, even though it was clearly on Tywin's orders. I doubt that would have fully mollified the Martells, but it would have at least been a basic show of good faith. But Robert not only pardoned all of them, he then rewarded Tywin with a marriage alliance and the prospect of his grandchildren on the throne. Machiavelli would not have approved.

Now, Robert insists to Ned that this was Jon Arryn's idea, and we know Jon was also the one who travelled all the way to Sunspear to return the bones of Lewyn Martell. But one has to wonder how different things might have looked if the Lannisters had been made to answer for their crimes.

But the question in the ask was: Does this invalidate Robert's claim? And the answer there is no. It does not. He had already won, for all intents and purposes. Now, while these actions do not invalidate his claim to the throne, they do win him a number of enemies, and they succeed in alienating Robert's staunchest ally and best friend.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #robert baratheon #aerys ii targaryen #jon arryn #tywin lannister #robert's rebellion #niccolò machiavelli

[philosophors]

“Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.”

— Niccolò Machiavelli, “The Prince”

#niccolo machiavelli #niccolò machiavelli #literature lover #literature #literature quotes #lit #literature quote #political philosophy #philosophy #philosophy quotes #philosophers #philosopher #quote #quotes #excerpts #excerpt #book #books #bookworm #booklover #fear #love

[tuportamiviareturn]

Ognun vede quel che tu pari. Pochi sentono quel che tu sei.

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, noto semplicemente come Niccolò Machiavelli (Firenze, 3 maggio 1469 – Firenze, 21 giugno 1527)

#21 giugno #Niccolò Machiavelli #frasi e citazioni #citazioni #essere #apparire

[chaotic-history]

If only there were a book about how to do that

#niccolò machiavelli #from discs. on livy

[ramshackledtrickster]

Machiavelli, C3?

Thank you for requesting!!

#assassins creed #niccolò machiavelli #assassins creed 2 #assassins creed brotherhood #fanart #my art

[garland-on-thy-brow]

[Domenico Lovascio - "With a “Monster’s Heart": Jonson’s Caesar and the Destruction of Roman Liberty]

Girl help Lucan and Machiavelli are fighting in my Ben Jonson. Yeah like a civil war.

#catiline his conspiracy #niccolò machiavelli #pharsalia #ben jonson #articles/books

[canesenzafissadimora]

Ci sono uomini che sanno tutto, peccato che questo è tutto quello che sanno.

#niccolò machiavelli

[dreams-of-mutiny]

Which does not depend on the little or much virtue of the conqueror, but on the nature of what was conquered.

Niccolò Machiavelli

#niccolò machiavelli #quotes

[stromuprisahat]

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.

The Prince- Chapter III (Niccolò Machiavelli)

The Darkling's score:

Vasily- dead

King Alexander III- permanently incapacitated

Nikolai- volcralized

Alina- interrupted work in progress

“There will be nothing left,” I whispered. “No,” he said gently as he folded me in his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of my hair. “I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me.”

Ruin and Rising- Chapter 15

Treating her well didn't work out, so she needed to be crushed just like his other enemies.

#Niccolò Machiavelli #The Prince #Chapter III: Concerning Mixed Principalities #The Darkling #Alina Starkov #Darklina #R&R Chapter 15 #grishanalyticritical #Seeing Grishaverse in other works #V #quotes #books

[artbleed]

Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.

-Niccolò Machiavelli

#niccolo machiavelli #Niccolò Machiavelli #machiavelli #niccolomachiavelli #politics #machiavellian #literature #italian literature #renaissance #history #educational #motivational #strength

[auxoubliettes]

#nicco machia offesissimo #niccolò machiavelli #ludovico ariosto #orlando furioso #quote

[gregor-samsung]

“ Che cosa andiamo cercando negli antichi, se non l'origine dei nostri mali, oppure l'espressione delle nostre scoperte? Noi andiamo rinnovando gli antichi, ogni volta che leggiamo un antico, se lo leggiamo con vera contiguità. Così accade per sant'Agostino. Vi cerchiamo lo stesso sentimento del tempo (il presente è il passato, il futuro è pure presente, il presente non esiste). La conclusione è mia. Ci troviamo quella parola d'ordine della coscienza moderna, che è la incomprensione reciproca; e chi mai, meglio e più di sant'Agostino, la espresse con il suo «Ogni cuore è chiuso ad ogni altro cuore»? Tremendo giudizio, disperata constatazione. E la sua negazione del «progresso»: che cosa di più attuale? Salvo gli imbecilli ottimisti, chi non sente che i progressi innegabili della scienza e delle tecniche non ci hanno portato un passo più avanti moralmente? E la sua constatazione della bestialità umana che produce le guerre, per cui l'uomo ci appare il più crudele animale che sia apparso sulla faccia del globo terrestre, assai peggiore degli animali che combatton soltanto per la preda? Sant'Agostino fece una perfetta analisi della politica, qualche secolo prima di Machiavelli, come libido dominandi. Oggi si capisce bene. Non è vero che gli uomini combattano per ragioni economiche o di classe. Non è vero che la ricchezza sia la posta, tra classe e classe. La verità è che gli uomini combattono per la libido dominandi, ossia per il desiderio del potere. Inutile che i comunisti ci promettano una umanità priva di lotte e di guerre. Essi stessi dimostrano oggi, a tutto il mondo, questa loro cupiditas dominandi. Son vittime della stessa passione ed incapaci di abolire i conflitti di coloro che dominano. Nel passato come nel presente abbiamo visto tiranni che erano poveri ed astemi, e si nutrivano come asceti. Ma nessuno resisteva al desiderio di dominazione. Ed oggi il popolo cinese ed il russo stanno per esser sacrificati alla ambizione dei loro capi. E forse anche gl'italiani saranno sacrificati alla ambizione di quei capi. Non saranno sacrificati nemmeno alla ambizione di un capo italiano. Sant'Agostino capiva tutto questo. Il suo pensiero è la negazione di quelli che cercano, su questa terra, un mondo perfetto o che si può perfezionare. Al di là, al di là. Là esiste il mondo della pace e della fratellanza umana. Quaggiù (prima di Hobbes, ma dopo che lo disse Plauto), gli uomini sono lupi. In questo mondo imperfetto, colpito dalla condanna del peccato originale, gli uomini potrebbero intendersi all'incirca, in sistemi ed in leggi transitorie e relative, purché si persuadessero che nulla in questo mondo è perfetto, o perfezionabile. E l'uno equivale all'altro. “

Giuseppe Prezzolini, Cristo e/o Machiavelli. Assaggi sopra il pessimismo cristiano di sant'Agostino e il pessimismo naturalistico di Machiavelli, introduzione di Quirino Principe, Rusconi Editore, 1971¹; pp. 90-92. [Corsivi dell’autore]

#Giuseppe Prezzolini #Cristo e/o Machiavelli #Quirino Principe #intellettuali del '900 #letture #leggere #citazioni #saggistica #Agostino d'Ippona #Sant'Agostino #pessimismo #progresso #incomprensione reciproca #brama di potere #morale #realismo #Homo homini lupus #Niccolò Machiavelli #libri #saggi #guerra #Thomas Hobbes #Plauto #peccato originale #stato di natura #filosofia #tirannia #filosofia della storia #politologia #tempo

[bracketsoffear]

Curtain (Agatha Christie) "Curtain has a serial killer known only as X before their identity is revealed. X has never actually killed anyone themselves — instead, they're a master of manipulation, preying on the fears of others and driving them into a state in which they decide to kill, but are completely unaware that they're being manipulated to do so. Sort of like what this propaganda speculated an evil Miss Marple would be like."

The Prince (Niccolò Machiavelli) "The single most famous political treatise and the first entirely secular work of The Renaissance. At the time it was first published, The Prince was seen as extremely scandalous for its endorsement of ruthlessness and amorality. Nevertheless, it quickly became popular with politicians and remains highly influential in Western politics today. While best known for the quote "And here comes in 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," he also emphasized the importance of inspiring love and respect, or at least not inspiring hatred. It is not a guide to how to most effectively be an asshole; it is simply a treatise in exercising political pragmatism. The fact that people like to connect those two ideas, that is what makes this Webby."

#web poll #the web #poll #the magnus archives #leitner tournament #Curtain #Poirot #Agatha Christie #The Prince #Niccolò Machiavelli

[machiavellli]

Main masterlist🕊️

Generale🖋️

Gaspara Stampa not beating the Protestant allegations

Unhinged De Vulgari Eloquentia summary

Foscolo is just delulu

Genshin impact danteification @moonschocolate

Cose più serie 🖋️

Dante and Virgilio in the Camposanto affresco

Dante e Beatrice - Michael Parkes 1993

Dante in Exile - Micheal Parkes 1998

Beatrice Alone - Micheal Parkes 1998

#masterlist #italian literature #Italian tag #roba italiana #italians on tumblr #italian stuff #italian tumblr #letteratura italiana #letteratura #poesia #meme #funny joke #poeti #poetry #poets #dante alighieri #Niccolò Machiavelli #francesco petrarca #torquato tasso #Gaspara stampa #giovanni boccaccio #giacomo leopardi #italian poetry #alessandro manzoni #ludovico ariosto #divina commedia #divine comedy #petrarch #dante

[trogo-auto-egocratico]

"Todo hombre que intente ser bueno todo el tiempo, terminará arruinado entre la gran cantidad de hombres que no lo son".

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (maquiavelo).

#machiavelli #nicolás maquiavelo #maquiavelo #reflexión #escritos #frases #escritor #libros #cuentos #citas en español #filosofía #filósofo #libros filosofía #literatura #literatura en español #spanish #spanish quotes #niccolò machiavelli