Power and the State
From Machiavelli to Rousseau in seven passages: whether it is better to be feared than loved, the war of all against all, and the man born free.
Day 1
“Because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved.”
— Machiavelli, The Prince
Day 2
“Men are so simple, and yield so much to the present necessities, that he who hath a mind to deceive, shall always find another that will be deceived.”
— Machiavelli, Machiavelli, Volume I
Day 3
“The condition of mere nature... is a condition of war of every man against every man.”
— Thomas Hobbes, The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)
Day 4
“Covenants, without the Sword, are but Words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.”
— Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
Day 5
“Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they.”
— Rousseau, The social contract & discourses
Day 6
“The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.”
— Rousseau, The social contract & discourses
Day 7
“The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying "This is mine," and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.”
— Rousseau, The social contract & discourses