Prince, The

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"></SPAN></p> <h2> DEDICATION </h2> <p><i><br/> To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De' Medici:<br/> <br/> Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are<br/> accustomed to come before him with such things as they hold most<br/> precious, or in which they see him take most delight; whence one<br/> often sees horses, arms, cloth of gold, precious stones, and<br/> similar ornaments presented to princes, worthy of their greatness.<br/> <br/> Desiring therefore to present myself to your Magnificence with<br/> some testimony of my devotion towards you, I have not found among<br/> my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so<br/> much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by<br/> long experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of<br/> antiquity; which, having reflected upon it with great and<br/> prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to<br/> your Magnificence.<br/> <br/> And although I may consider this work unworthy of your<br/> countenance, nevertheless I trust much to your benignity that it<br/> may be acceptable, seeing that it is not possible for me to make a<br/> better gift than to offer you the opportunity of understanding in<br/> the shortest time all that I have learnt in so many years, and<br/> with so many troubles and dangers; which work I have not<br/> embellished with swelling or magnificent words, nor stuffed with<br/> rounded periods, nor with any extrinsic allurements or adornments<br/> whatever, with which so many are accustomed to embellish their<br/> works; for I have wished either that no honour should be given it,<br/> or else that the truth of the matter and the weightiness of the<br/> theme shall make it acceptable.<br/> <br/> Nor do I hold with those who regard it as a presumption if a man<br/> of low and humble condition dare to discuss and settle the<br/> concerns of princes; because, just as those who draw landscapes<br/> place themselves below in the plain to contemplate the nature of<br/> the mountains and of lofty places, and in order to contemplate the<br/> plains place themselves upon high mountains, even so to understand<br/> the nature of the people it needs to be a prince, and to<br/> understand that of princes it needs to be of the people.<br/> <br/> Take then, your Magnificence, this little gift in the spirit in<br/> which I send it; wherein, if it be diligently read and considered<br/> by you, you will learn my extreme desire that you should attain<br/> that greatness which fortune and your other attributes promise.<br/> And if your Magnificence from the summit of your greatness will<br/> sometimes turn your eyes to these lower regions, you will see how<br/> unmeritedly I suffer a great and continued malignity of fortune.<br/> </i></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />