Nor do I hold with those who regard it as a presumption if a man of lo… — The Prince

The Prince — Niccolò Machiavelli

Nor do I hold with those who regard it as a presumption if a man of low and humble condition dare to discuss and settle the concerns of princes; because, just as those who draw landscapes place themselves below in the plain to contemplate the nature of the mountains and of lofty places, and in order to contemplate the plains place themselves upon high mountains, even so to understand the nature of the people it needs to be a prince, and to understand that of princes it needs to be of the people.

Place: ¶48
License: Public domain · Source
The text is given as in the edition, unedited.

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