1. Some princes, so as to hold securely the state, have disarmed their… — The Prince

The Prince — Niccolò Machiavelli

1. Some princes, so as to hold securely the state, have disarmed their subjects; others have kept their subject towns distracted by factions; others have fostered enmities against themselves; others have laid themselves out to gain over those whom they distrusted in the beginning of their governments; some have built fortresses; some have overthrown and destroyed them. And although one cannot give a final judgment on all of these things unless one possesses the particulars of those states in which a decision has to be made, nevertheless I will speak as comprehensively as the matter of itself will admit.

Place: CHAPTER XIX -- THAT ONE SHOULD AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATED · ¶256
License: Public domain · Source
The text is given as in the edition, unedited.

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