Am reading a very interesting book entitled The First Muslim by Lesley Hazelton. Who would have thought, that in a book about the life of Muhammad, I would find this interesting Machiavellian quote (and the whole class knows that Machiavelli did not conceive of these ideas as an expression of his own world view, but that he rather recorded what he observed around him, right?  Good work, class!).

Hazelton writes, on pp. 180-81:  “As Machiavelli would put it, ‘There is no doubt that…greatness depends on…triumphing over difficulties and opposition.  So fortune finds…enemies and encourages them to take the field against…[you], so that…[you] may have cause to triumph over them and ascend higher on the ladder…[this misfortune] provided.’ ”

I definitely think a little Italian is called for here:  corragio le persone!