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Quotation from Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius by Niccolò Machiavelli
“for when the entire safety of our country is at stake, no consideration of what is just or unjust, merciful or cruel, praiseworthy or shameful, must intervene.”
Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius, Book III, ch. XLI, trans. Ninian Hill Thomson (1883)
Drawn from the Roman army trapped by the Samnites at the Caudine Forks, the chapter argues that one's country is to be defended by honour or dishonour.
Citation: "for when the entire safety of our country is at stake, no consideration of what is just or unjust, merciful or cruel, praiseworthy or shameful, must intervene." — Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius, Book III, ch. XLI, trans. Ninian Hill Thomson (1883). (id machiavelli-discourses-on-livy-q8)
Portrait: Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli, Santi di Tito, Public domain.
