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The Illiad
The Prince
The Art of War
Aesop's Fables
Romeo & Juliet
Huckleberry Finn
Hamlet
Nicomachean Ethics
The Holy Bible
Discourses on Livy

This Weeks Featured Author - Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) was an Italian political philosopher, musician, poet, and romantic comedic playwright. He is a figure of the Italian Renaissance and a central figure of its political component, most widely known for his treatises on realist political theory (The Prince) on the one hand and republicanism (Discourses on Livy) on the other.

Machiavelli was born in the city-state of Florence, Italy. Education left him with a thorough knowledge of the Latin and Italian classics... continue>>>

Book of the Week : The Prince (published 1532)

Excerpt from The Prince - Chapter XVII - Concerning Clemency and Cruelty and If it is Better to Be Loved Than Feared

Coming now to the other qualities mentioned above, I say that every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency. Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romagna, unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty. And if this be rightly considered, he will be seen to have been much more merciful
than the Florentine people, who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoi ...continue>>>