君主论（英文版）

君主论：一本让你重新理解“恶”的书 马基雅维里写这本书的时候，大概没想到自己会因此变成一个形容词。五百多年来，“马基雅维里式”成了权谋、阴险、不择手段的同义词。但读完这本英文版，你会发现它更像一本赤裸裸的政治解剖学——不教人变坏，只是把政治这台机器的真实运转方式拆开给你看。 书的核心其实不复杂：君主应该像狮子一样凶猛，像狐狸一样狡猾。狮子驱不散豺狼，狐狸躲不开陷阱，所以两者都得会。这种直白的、不带道德滤镜的表述，在当时是惊世骇俗的。他不说“君主应该仁慈”，他说“仁慈可能让你亡国”；他不说“守信是美德”，他说“如果守信对你不利，就别守”。这些话听起来冷酷，但他只是在陈述一个事实：在权力游戏里，道德常常是奢侈品。 读这本书最难受的地方在于，你明知道他在讲一些不太光彩的手段，却很难反驳他的逻辑。他举了很多历史上的例子，每一个都在说同一个道理：君主的首要任务是保住国家，其他都是次要的。这种“目的证明手段”的思维方式，后来被无数人滥用，但马基雅维里自己其实是有底线的——他从不主张无意义的残暴，只主张必要的狠心。 有趣的是，这本书的英文版翻译自马里奥特版，语言带着那个时代的典雅，读起来像是在听一个老谋深算的顾问在你耳边低声说话。他在最后一章突然变得激昂，呼吁把意大利从外族手中解放出来。那一章的语调与前面截然不同，像一个一直冷静分析病情的外科医生，突然摘下口罩说：这病得治，而且得马上治。 合上书你会发现，马基雅维里不是在教人作恶，他是在说：政治有自己的逻辑，你不能拿个人的道德标准去衡量它。你可以不认同他，但你很难假装他说的那些事不存在。五百年后，那些他描述的权力游戏，还在世界的各个角落上演。这大概就是这本书的冷酷之处：它从来就没有过时。

Herein he expresses in his own masterly way his views on the founding of a new state, taking for his type and model Cesare Borgia, although the latter had failed in his schemes for the consolidation of his power in the Romagna. The principles here laid down were the natural outgrowth of the confused political conditions of his time. He merely had the candor and courage to write down what everybody was thinking and what everybody knew. He merely gives us the impressions he had received from a long and intimate intercourse with princes and the affairs of state. It was Lord Bacon, I believe, who said that Machiavelli tells us what princes do, not what they ought to do. When Machiavelli takes Cesare Borgia as a model, he in nowise extols him as a hero, but merely as a prince who was capable of attaining the end in view. The life of the State was the primary object. It must be maintained. And Machiavelli has laid down the principles, based upon his study and wide experience, by which this may be accomplished. He wrote from the view-point of the politician,--not of the moralist. He had been married in 1502 to Marietta Corsini, who bore him four sons and a daughter. He died on June 22, 1527, leaving his family in the greatest poverty, a sterling tribute to his honesty, when one considers the many opportunities he doubtless had to enrich himself. Machiavelli's life was not without blemish--few lives are. We must bear in mind the atmosphere of craft, hypocrisy, and poison in which he lived,--his was the age of Cesare Borgia and of Popes like the monster Alexander VI.

72# The Prince ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 ISBN：9787205079581 Apr 11th 花了好几天硬啃下来的，绝对经典，这本必须实体书收藏。 它是学习定语从句、状语从句、虚拟语气的绝佳教材！

感觉我们中国也可以出一本。不会比这个差。

Nothing makes a prince so much esteemed as great enterprises and setting a fine example. It has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain or unstable as fame or power not founded on its own strength. A prince, therefore, being compelled knowingly to adopt the beast, ought to choose the fox and the lion; because the lion cannot defend himself against snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves. Those who rely simply on the lion do not understand what they are about. Therefore a wise lord cannot, nor ought he to, keep faith when such observance may be turned against him, and when the reasons that caused him to pledge it exist no longer. For this reason many consider that a wise prince, when he has the opportunity, ought with craft to foster some animosity against himself, so that, having crushed it, his renown may rise higher. For 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 flavour of them may last longer.

我英文基础不太好，正在学习，读英文版有些吃力。君主论中文、英文版都看完了，略微有点失望，大概是因为久负盛名，我在阅读时却没达到预期的期望。关于帝王权术，我们华夏文明并不逊色于西方国家，还是要有名族自信力啊。

老外搞这个怎么搞得过牢中？我们几千年前有个姓商的早把你这套理论玩了个遍了

The wise man's plan must combine advantages and disadvantages. In the disadvantageous situation, we think about the advantages, and then everything will go well. Similarly, in the advantageous situation, we think about the disadvantages,and then the problem will be solved smoothly.

看过了译文版，英文版没兴趣再仔细读了，毕竟不是搞翻译的