I've got a book "The Portable Machiavelli" by Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa. In it there's some of his private correspondence in particular a letter to his friend Luigi Guicciardini about an experience with a prostitute that's hilarious!!! He writes: "Even though I found her thighs flabby and her cunt watery and her breath stinking a bit, my lust was so desperate that I went ahead and gave it to her anyway!" He went on (after seeing her by candlelight afterward: "My God! The woman was so ugly that I almost dropped dead. The first thing I noticed was a tuft of hair half white and half black, and although the top of her head was bald, which allowed you to observe a few lice taking a stroll, nevertheless a few hairs mingled with the whiskers that grew around her face..." Ugh lol!
It's a fairly comprehensive compilation of his work and correspondence. I once had a philosophy prof that said if you really want to know what people think, don't read their works, read their correspondence.
Revenge is a dish best served cold ;>
Isn't that Machiavelli???
I thought that was an old Sicilian saying ;>
IIRC, old Mac wasn't much for revenge as much as he was for demonstrating power effectively; damn, now I have to read The Prince again ;>
I've got a book "The Portable Machiavelli" by Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa. In it there's some of his private correspondence in particular a letter to his friend Luigi Guicciardini about an experience with a prostitute that's hilarious!!! He writes: "Even though I found her thighs flabby and her cunt watery and her breath stinking a bit, my lust was so desperate that I went ahead and gave it to her anyway!" He went on (after seeing her by candlelight afterward: "My God! The woman was so ugly that I almost dropped dead. The first thing I noticed was a tuft of hair half white and half black, and although the top of her head was bald, which allowed you to observe a few lice taking a stroll, nevertheless a few hairs mingled with the whiskers that grew around her face..." Ugh lol!
lust will not keep LOL
even the smartest among us have to release the hound ROFL at the descrip...poor girl immortalized by ugliness
maybe I will get to it one day
It's a fairly comprehensive compilation of his work and correspondence. I once had a philosophy prof that said if you really want to know what people think, don't read their works, read their correspondence.
that sounds true, and like good advice
just did a quick lookup
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-cold.html
It's French in origin; I guess they needed revenge after letting the Germans march all over them every 20 years.
The Godfather, from the movie, used the line, which explains why I thought it was Sicilian