Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live; that he who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin that his preservation.
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation
Machiavelli, Niccolò. Il Principe [The Prince]. Rome: Antonio Blado d'Asola, 1532.
Current Citation
Machiavelli, Nicolò. The Prince, translated by Peter Bondanella. Oxford University Press, 2005.