Post by Happi on Oct 18, 2008 19:09:30 GMT -5
Lets see if anyone can guess these quotes from which philosopher
Those who rise from private citizen to prince by good fortune, rise easily, but struggle to stay there.
A prince may rise from a private station either by wickedness, or by the favour of his fellow-citizens.
a prince will find that one cannot, by fair dealing, satisfy the nobles, but you can satisfy the people as they desire only not to be oppressed.
a prince can never secure himself against a hostile people, because they are too many, be he can secure himself against the few nobles.
A wise prince ought to ensure that his citizens will always have need of the state and of him, then he will find them faithful.
A prince ought to have no other study than war; for this is the art of all rulers; it upholds born princes and enables others to become princes. Without its knowledge, many have lost their states.
It remains now to see how a prince should treat his subjects and friends. Here I wish to give the real truth of the matter, not the fantasy of it, for a man who acts for good is likely to be ruined. It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it when necessary.
Is it better to be loved or feared? One might wish to be both, but they are not met in the same person. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely. They will offer you their blood, property, life, and children when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you.
When a prince has his people satisfied, then conspirators can only look forward to offending them.
The first opinion which one forms of a prince is by observing the men he has around him; and foolish servants show the foolishness of their prince in choosing them.
"Men ought either to be well treated or crushed... injury ought to be of such a kind that one does not fear revenge"
Or this:
'The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions.'
'Respectfulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes bustle; carefulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness, without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.
'In teaching there should be no distinction of classes.'
'By their natures, men are nearly alike; it is by their habits they get to be wide apart.'
'Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know men.'
Or another of my favorites:
After having looked long enough between the philosopher's lines and fingers, I say that the greater part of conscious thinking must be included among instinctive activities. We have to relearn here, that "being conscious" is not the opposite of being instinctive, and that even behind logic, there stands physiological demands for the preservation of life.
Physiologists should think before taking the instinct of self-preservation as the cardinal instinct of organic beings. A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength- life itself is will to power; self-preservation is only one of the results.
Concerning the superstitions of logicians, I shall never tire of emphasising a small terse fact, namely, that a thought comes when "it" wishes, and not when "I" wish.
All psychology so far has got stuck in moral prejudices and fears. Nobody has yet come close to understanding it as the development of the will to power. If, however, a person should regard even the affects of hatred, envy, covetousness and the lust to rule as conditions of life, as factors essential to the general economy of life (and must be further enhanced if life is to be further enhanced), he will begin to get seasick. On the other hand, if one's ship has drifted into such waters, well! All right! Let us clench our teeth! Let us open our eyes and keep our hand firm on the helm! We sail right over morality! Psychology is become again the path to fundamental problems.
There is a great ladder of religious cruelty with many rungs; but three are most important. At one time one sacrificed human beings to one's god, perhaps precisely those most loved. There was sacrifice of the first-born in prehistoric religions, or the sacrifice of the Emperor Tiberius in Mithras' grotto at Capri. Then, in the moral epoch of mankind, one sacrificed to one's god the strongest instincts one possessed; one's 'nature'. Finally, what was left to be sacrificed? Did one not have to sacrifice God himself, and worship nothingness?.
He who has seen deeply into the world knows what wisdom there is in the superficiality of men. It is their instinct for preservation which teaches them to be false. Perhaps there has up till now been no finer way of making man himself more beautiful than piety: through piety, man can come to such art, such goodness, that one no longer suffers at the sight of him.
There are no moral phenomena at all, only moral interpretations of phenomena
Even concubinage has been corrupted: by marriage.
(LOL! It's true!)
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.
That which is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.
The vanity of others offends our taste only when it offends our vanity.
Proverbs for Women
How the slowest tedium flees when a man comes on his knees!
Sober garb and total muteness dress a woman with astuteness.
Who has brought me luck today? God! and my couturier.
Noble name, a leg that's fine, man as well: oh were he mine!
Men have hitherto treated women like beautiful, delicate, birds strayed down from the heights: but which must be caged to stop them escaping.
The First: Niccolo Machiavelli
The Second: Kong Qiu a.k.a Kong Fuzi a.k.a. Confucius
The Third: Friedrich Nietzsche
Enjoy, as There will be more. Or feel free to post some quotes from your favorite Philosopher.
Those who rise from private citizen to prince by good fortune, rise easily, but struggle to stay there.
A prince may rise from a private station either by wickedness, or by the favour of his fellow-citizens.
a prince will find that one cannot, by fair dealing, satisfy the nobles, but you can satisfy the people as they desire only not to be oppressed.
a prince can never secure himself against a hostile people, because they are too many, be he can secure himself against the few nobles.
A wise prince ought to ensure that his citizens will always have need of the state and of him, then he will find them faithful.
A prince ought to have no other study than war; for this is the art of all rulers; it upholds born princes and enables others to become princes. Without its knowledge, many have lost their states.
It remains now to see how a prince should treat his subjects and friends. Here I wish to give the real truth of the matter, not the fantasy of it, for a man who acts for good is likely to be ruined. It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it when necessary.
Is it better to be loved or feared? One might wish to be both, but they are not met in the same person. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely. They will offer you their blood, property, life, and children when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you.
When a prince has his people satisfied, then conspirators can only look forward to offending them.
The first opinion which one forms of a prince is by observing the men he has around him; and foolish servants show the foolishness of their prince in choosing them.
"Men ought either to be well treated or crushed... injury ought to be of such a kind that one does not fear revenge"
Or this:
'The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions.'
'Respectfulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes bustle; carefulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness, without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.
'In teaching there should be no distinction of classes.'
'By their natures, men are nearly alike; it is by their habits they get to be wide apart.'
'Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know men.'
Or another of my favorites:
After having looked long enough between the philosopher's lines and fingers, I say that the greater part of conscious thinking must be included among instinctive activities. We have to relearn here, that "being conscious" is not the opposite of being instinctive, and that even behind logic, there stands physiological demands for the preservation of life.
Physiologists should think before taking the instinct of self-preservation as the cardinal instinct of organic beings. A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength- life itself is will to power; self-preservation is only one of the results.
Concerning the superstitions of logicians, I shall never tire of emphasising a small terse fact, namely, that a thought comes when "it" wishes, and not when "I" wish.
All psychology so far has got stuck in moral prejudices and fears. Nobody has yet come close to understanding it as the development of the will to power. If, however, a person should regard even the affects of hatred, envy, covetousness and the lust to rule as conditions of life, as factors essential to the general economy of life (and must be further enhanced if life is to be further enhanced), he will begin to get seasick. On the other hand, if one's ship has drifted into such waters, well! All right! Let us clench our teeth! Let us open our eyes and keep our hand firm on the helm! We sail right over morality! Psychology is become again the path to fundamental problems.
There is a great ladder of religious cruelty with many rungs; but three are most important. At one time one sacrificed human beings to one's god, perhaps precisely those most loved. There was sacrifice of the first-born in prehistoric religions, or the sacrifice of the Emperor Tiberius in Mithras' grotto at Capri. Then, in the moral epoch of mankind, one sacrificed to one's god the strongest instincts one possessed; one's 'nature'. Finally, what was left to be sacrificed? Did one not have to sacrifice God himself, and worship nothingness?.
He who has seen deeply into the world knows what wisdom there is in the superficiality of men. It is their instinct for preservation which teaches them to be false. Perhaps there has up till now been no finer way of making man himself more beautiful than piety: through piety, man can come to such art, such goodness, that one no longer suffers at the sight of him.
There are no moral phenomena at all, only moral interpretations of phenomena
Even concubinage has been corrupted: by marriage.
(LOL! It's true!)
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.
That which is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.
The vanity of others offends our taste only when it offends our vanity.
Proverbs for Women
How the slowest tedium flees when a man comes on his knees!
Sober garb and total muteness dress a woman with astuteness.
Who has brought me luck today? God! and my couturier.
Noble name, a leg that's fine, man as well: oh were he mine!
Men have hitherto treated women like beautiful, delicate, birds strayed down from the heights: but which must be caged to stop them escaping.
The First: Niccolo Machiavelli
The Second: Kong Qiu a.k.a Kong Fuzi a.k.a. Confucius
The Third: Friedrich Nietzsche
Enjoy, as There will be more. Or feel free to post some quotes from your favorite Philosopher.