19 ideas
7914 | To try to be wise all on one's own is folly [Rochefoucauld] |
9288 | The magic of Asclepius enters Renaissance thought mixed into Ficino's neo-platonism [Yates] |
9291 | The dating, in 1614, of the Hermetic writings as post-Christian is the end of the Renaissance [Yates] |
7118 | La Rochefoucauld's idea of disguised self-love implies an unconscious mind [Rochefoucauld, by Sartre] |
7912 | Judging by effects, love looks more like hatred than friendship [Rochefoucauld] |
7915 | Supreme cleverness is knowledge of the real value of things [Rochefoucauld] |
7917 | Realising our future misery is a kind of happiness [Rochefoucauld] |
7127 | If men are good you should keep promises, but they aren't, so you needn't [Machiavelli] |
7913 | Virtue doesn't go far without the support of vanity [Rochefoucauld] |
7916 | True friendship is even rarer than true love [Rochefoucauld] |
9299 | We are bored by people to whom we ourselves are boring [Rochefoucauld] |
6309 | The principle foundations of all states are good laws and good armies [Machiavelli] |
6306 | People are vengeful, so be generous to them, or destroy them [Machiavelli] |
6305 | To retain a conquered state, wipe out the ruling family, and preserve everything else [Machiavelli] |
6308 | A sensible conqueror does all his harmful deeds immediately, because people soon forget [Machiavelli] |
6307 | A desire to conquer, and men who do it, are always praised, or not blamed [Machiavelli] |
7486 | Machiavelli emancipated politics from religion [Machiavelli, by Watson] |
19813 | All legislators invoke God in support of extraordinary laws, because their justification is not obvious [Machiavelli] |
7126 | Rulers should preserve the foundations of religion, to ensure good behaviour and unity [Machiavelli] |