《君主论·第十七章·残酷与仁慈·被爱戴与被畏惧孰优》第1节
Coming now to the other qualities mentioned above, I say that every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency. Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romagna, unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty. And if this be rightly considered, he will be seen to have been much more merciful than the Florentine people, who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to be destroyed. Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual only. During the rioting between the Cancellieri and Panciatichi factions in 1502 and 1503. And of all princes, it is impossible for the new prince to avoid the imputation of cruelty, owing to new states being full of dangers. Hence Virgil, through the mouth of Dido, excuses the inhumanity of her reign owing to its being new, saying:
注释摘要
这一段的论证起点是一个看似矛盾的主张：君主当然应当渴望被人视为仁慈而非残酷，但马基雅维利马上警告，仁慈不可滥用。他在这里做的是一个后果论的比较：不是问残酷本身好不好，而是问在特定情势下，哪一种做法实际上造成更少的流血与更大的秩序。为此他摆出两个对比性史例，一个正面的切萨雷·博尔贾，一个反面的佛罗伦萨人在皮斯托亚的处理。 切萨雷·博尔贾是教皇亚历山大六世的私…