I've always been a fan of Machiavelli's "The Prince". It had some good lessons and good quotes in it. But Machiavelli's name has become almost a swear word over the centuries.

The following is excerpted from the Editor's Introduction to "That Share of Glory", in "Imperial Stars, Volume 1: The Stars At War".

"Machiavelli's name does not rank in the noble company of scientists. In the common opinion of men, his name itself has become a term of reproach and dishonor...

"Why should this be? If our reference is to the views that Machiavelli in fact held, that he stated plainly, openly, and clearly in his writings, there is in the common opinion no truth at all... It is true that he has taught tyrants, from almost his own days - Thomas Cromwell, for example, the lowborn Chancellor whom Henry VIII brought in to replace Thomas More when More refused to make his conscience a tool of his master's interests, was said to have a copy of Machiavelli always in his pocket; and in our time Mussolini wrote a college thesis on Machiavelli. But knowledge has a disturbing neutrality in this respect. We do not blame the research analyst who has solved the chemical mysteries of a poison because a murderer made use of his treatise...

“We are, I think, and not only from the fate of Machiavelli's reputation, forced to conclude that men do not really want to know about themselves... Perhaps the full disclosure of what we really are and how we act is too violent a medicine.

“In any case, whatever may be the desires of most men, it is most certainly against the interests of the powerful that the truth should be known about political behavior. If the political truths stated by Machiavelli were widely known, the success of tyranny would become much less likely. If men understood as much of the mechanism of rule and privilege as Machiavelli understood, the would no longer be deceived into accepting that rule and privilege, and they would know what steps to take to overcome them.

“Therefore the powerful and their spokesmen – all the 'official' thinkers, the lawyers and philosophers and preachers and demagogues – must defame Machiavelli.
Machiavelli says that rulers lie and break faith; this proves, they say, that he libels human nature. Machiavelli says that ambitious men struggle for power; he is apologizing for the opposition, the enemy, and trying to confuse you about us, who wish to lead you for your own good and welfare. Machiavelli says that you must keep strict watch over officials and subordinate them to the law; he is encouraging subversion and the loss of national unity. Machiavelli says that no man with power is to be trusted; you see that his aim is to smash all your faith and ideals.

Small wonder that the powerful – in public – denounce Machiavelli. The powerful have long practice and much skill in sizing up their opposition. They can recognize an enemy who will never compromise, even when that enemy is so abstract as a body of ideas.”

James Burnham, “The Machiavellians”