Being Good All the Time is a Weakness

Niccolò Machiavelli wrote, in “The Prince”, “Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.  Hence, a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”

There is virtue in the proper, ruthless exercise of power, because it maintains society.  As a practise, every once in a while, when people have forgotten their place, I choose one of my detractors, someone who has done, what I consider to be an egregious wrong, and with careful, deliberate acts, I make an example of that person.  It is never personal.

People cannot have this notion that they can overstep boundaries, and challenge us in our own space.  This idea that we must always forgive our enemies, especially if they are family, and let them be only enables toxic people.  People do not understand the language of compassion.  That is a myth.  People understand only power.  After making an example, then is the time to speak of compassion, and be magnanimous.  That is also a lesson.