Literature Network » Niccolo Machiavelli

Innocents abroad. (Notebook).(terrorism and society)(Column)

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From: Harper's Magazine
Date: 20020601
Author:Lapham, Lewis H.

The gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation. The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.

--Niccolo Machiavelli

For the last six months in this space I've been questioning the premises of our newfound war on terrorism, and a number of alarmed readers have asked for security clearances and background checks. They bring charges of ...

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