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  • Essay / Niccolo Machiavelli - 1660

    According to legend, just before his death, Niccolo Machiavelli told his friends who remained faithful to him to the end about a dream he had had. In his dream he had seen a group of peasants, wretched and decrepit in appearance. He asked them who they were. They replied: “We are the saints and the blessed; we are on our way to heaven. Then he saw a crowd of men in formal attire, aristocratic and somber in appearance, speaking solemnly about important political issues. Again he asked them who they were and where they were going. “We are the damned of hell” was their response. Machiavelli later remarked that he would be much happier in hell. This story is taken from The Smile of Niccolo by Viroli (“The Mask and the Face”). The crowd of noble people in his dream included philosophers like Plato, Plutarch, and Tacitus. His conclusion was that he would rather be in hell, an unpleasant place, and be with other political theorists like himself, than in heaven, a beautiful utopian society, with no one to talk to and be alone. Machiavelli, the Italian philosopher, and his political views may seem harsh and unrealistic in today's world, but they also support certain realities of modern government and business. Life as a child during the Italian Renaissance was very interesting. The Medici, the ruling family of Florence at the time, greatly influenced Machiavelli. The Medici had a weak army and no political force in Europe and it was for this reason that Italy was invaded by France and Spain. Before and during Machiavelli's life, his country was engaged in war and involved in a cultural revolution, both of which impacted his way of thinking. There is not much recorded about Machiavelli's childhood, but his childhood seems to have influenced his later work...... middle of paper ......eferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting= false&prodId=WHIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1631004157&mode=view&userGroupName=scschools&jsid=d3ac3320878a91ff03b1793 0ab30a589>."Biography of Nicolas Machiavelli - Life, family, children, parents, Death, Son, , Information, Born, Time, Year. " Encyclopedia of World Biography. Internet. November 27, 2011. “Niccolo Machiavelli.” Erin's thoughts. Web December 8, 2011. "Niccolò Machiavelli (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Internet. December 11, 2011. .Viroli, Maurizio and Antony Shugaar. “The mask and the face”. Introduction. Niccolo's smile. 1-8. Print.