Saturday, March 28, 2020

 

The Safety of the Fatherland

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), Discourses on Livy 3.41 (tr. Harvey C. Mansfield and Nathan Tarcov):
[T]he fatherland is well defended in whatever mode one defends it, whether with ignominy or with glory....That advice deserves to be noted and observed by any citizen who finds himself counseling his fatherland, for where one deliberates entirely on the safety of his fatherland, there ought not to enter any consideration of either just or unjust, merciful or cruel, praiseworthy or ignominious; indeed every other concern put aside, one ought to follow entirely the policy that saves its life and maintains its liberty.

[L]a patria è bene difesa in qualunque modo la si difende, o con ignominia o con gloria....La quale cosa merita di essere notata ed osservata da qualunque cittadino si truova a consigliare la patria sua: perché dove si dilibera al tutto della salute della patria, non vi debbe cadere alcuna considerazione né di giusto né d'ingiusto, né di piatoso né di crudele, né di laudabile né d'ignominioso; anzi, posposto ogni altro rispetto, seguire al tutto quel partito che le salvi la vita e mantenghile la libertà.



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