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In republics, there is more vitality, greater hatred, and more desire for vengeance,

which will never permit them to allow the memory of their former liberty to rest,

so that the safest way is to destroy them or to reside there.

Injuries ought to be done all at one time so that being tasted less, they offend less.

Benefits ought to be given little by little so that the flavor of them may last longer.

Niccolo Machiavelli

The term Machiavellian is one of those throwaway terms that people use to describe rulers

or nations that do bad things in the world to subjugate others.

It's named for Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote the prince for the heir of the Medici

family in Florence as a guide to conquering nations and ruling over subjects.

The ends justify the means, or so the story goes.

Many of the figures we'll speak about today seem to have taken this advice to heart,

though in a twist of historical irony, no one in Machiavelli's time did.

There's no evidence that Giuliani de Medici or his son Lorenzo, to whom it was purportedly dedicated, ever even read it.

While he's held up as some sort of Rasputin-like figure whispering into the ears of would-be despots, Machiavelli himself was just a guy looking for a job.

In fact, old Niccolo, who fancied himself an accomplished writer, was considered in his time to be rather pedestrian.

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