Two Thoughts

There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.
―  Niccolò Machiavelli
From:  “The Prince“
Every time I look at you I get a fierce desire to be lonesome.
—  Oscar Levant
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On This Day In:
2013	RIP – Dear Abby
	Half-Life Problems
2012	To The Soul…
2011	Reverted!!

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Prudence

A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.
―  Niccolò Machiavelli
From: “The Prince“
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On This Day In:
2012	Reason Against Reasons
2011	The 1% Rule Of Large Groups
2010	Going, Going, On…
	Expect Mike
	Wasted Again?
	You Did?
	Reflecting Plenty
	Old Math
	Mental Images
	Here’s Lookin’ At You, Kid
	Learn
	Nothing Feared Today
	I Had Other Plans
	Ratings…
	Really?
	Encourage Greatness

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On Reading Books

 

When evening comes, I return home and go into my study.  On the threshold I strip off my muddy, sweaty, workday clothes, and put on the robes of court and palace, and in this graver dress I enter the antique courts of the ancients and am welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I was born.  And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me.  And for the space of four hours I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no more at death: I pass indeed into their world.
―  Niccolò Machiavelli
From: “The Prince“
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On This Day In:
2012	On America
2011	Shiver, Me Timbers!
2010	Fiduciary Breakdown

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Do Bold Things

All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively.  Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth.  Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.
―  Niccolò Machiavelli
From: “The Prince“
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On This Day In:
2012	Seven Causes
2011	I Feel A Tingle Coming On

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And You Are?

There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless.
― Niccolò Machiavelli
From: “The Prince“
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On This Day In:
2012	Not Too Late
2011	Persistence
2009	Health Care?

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Dangerous Systems

It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system.  For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.
― Niccolò Machiavelli
From: “The Prince“
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On This Day In:
2012	Useful Science
2011	Say It, But Please Don’t Make Me Listen

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Times Change

A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways.
― Niccolò Machiavelli
From: “The Prince“
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On This Day In:
2012	Ashes Not Dust
2011	A Handful From Saudi
	None Of This Happened
	Take Responsibility

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