Ok...so I'm reading The Prince for my political theory class. I'm sure a lot of you have read it too. I mean, Machiavelli is the man. Or maybe you think he's not the man. A LOT of people thinks he sucks. I think he's pretty great. And pretty damn clever.
There is a quote from The Prince that I find really beautiful. My prof read it in class and it was one of those passages that just spoke to me. I loved it. Here it is:
"When evening comes, I go back home, and go to my study. On the threshold I take off my work clothes, covered in mud and filth, and put on the clothes an ambassador would wear. Decently dressed, I enter the ancient courts of rulers who have long since died. There I am warmly welcomed, and I feed on the only food I find nourishing, and was born to savor...I forget every worry. I am no longer afraid of poverty, or frightened of death. I live entirely through them."
I bet good ol' Machiavelli didn't know I would live entirely through his words. I bet he didn't know how much of a great he would looked upon as. There's something magical in reading a book written over 500 years ago and still getting something out of it.
Simply magical and simply beautiful.
I read that a while back in my English 1A class..that was the class that made me realize how I love to research and analyze writing, to the point of exhaustion.
ReplyDeleteThe next most brilliant thing you should read? I suggest Virginia Woolfe's "A Room of One's Own", if you haven't already. It shows how creative independence is based on practical necessities. I am sure you would love it.
If you have time, that is....
you might read
ReplyDeleteIDENTITIES: How Governed, Who Pays?
http://identitieshowgoverned.blogspot.com/
in addition to Mac.
Reading that you love to soak in good literature made my morning. Now, you do realize that Machiavelli was an amoral man, don't you--that his book is about power, not goodness? Would hate to see you go the way of Enron executives . . . :-)
ReplyDelete"A Room of One's Own" is indeed excellent, although I'm not I agree with Anthony's take on it.
Happy studying!