Machiavelli - The Art of War
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Machiavelli's Art of War, Translated by Christopher Lynch
- "Machiavelli is entirely averse to any form of military professionalism, for professionals, like mercenaries, are presumed to be motivated by the desire for personal profit."(xxi)
- "Indeed, the real point of this whole discussion of recruitment is about establishing a framework within which control and obedience can be secured by means of first giving in to, and then managing soldiers' and captains' passions, rather than trying to overcome them in the name of the common good or the fatherland." (203)
- "At the basis of a soldiers military service is an ambivalence of will that is brought about by, on the one hand, his aversion to present pain, and, on the other hand, his fear of the prince's disdain." (203)
