Quote of the Day
Here is Nicolo Machiavelli, of whom a more cynical and skeptical observer of human nature no one but Thomas Hobbes can rival.
From his DISCOURSES ON LIVY
“CHAPTER LVI.—THE OCCURRENCE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN ANY CITY OR COUNTRY IS GENERALLY PRECEDED BY SIGNS AND PORTENTS OR BY MEN WHO PREDICT THEM
“Whence it comes I know not, but both ancient and modern instances prove that no great events ever occur in any city or country that have not been predicted by soothsayers, revelations, or by portents and other celestial signs.
“And not to go from home in proof of this, everybody knows how the descent into Italy of Charles VIII., king of France, was predicted by Brother Girolamo Savonarola; and how, besides this, it was said throughout Italy that at Arezzo there had been seen and heard in the air armed men fighting together.
“Moreover, everybody remembers how, before the death of Lorenzo de Medici the elder, the highest pinnacle of the dome of Florence was struck by a bolt from heaven doing great damage to that building.
“It is also well known how, before Pietro Soderini, who had been made Gonfaloniere for life, was expelled and deprived of his rank by the people of Florence, the palace itself was struck by lightning.
“Many more examples might be adduced, which I leave, however, lest I should become tedious. I will relate merely what according to Titus Livius happened before the coming of the Gauls to Rome: One Marcius Caedicius, a plebeian, reported to the Senate that passing through the Via Nuova at midnight, he had heard a voice louder than that of any man which commanded him to notify the Senate that the Gauls were coming to Rome.
“To explain these things, a man should have knowledge of things natural and supernatural, which I have not. It may be, however, as certain philosophers maintain, that the air is peopled with spirits, who by their superior intelligence foresee future events, and out of pity for mankind warn them by such signs, so that they may prepare against the coming evils.
“Be this as it may, however, the truth of the fact exists, that these portents are invariably followed by the most remarkable events.”
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
