Tintoretto, Archer, 1580
Let no one be surprised if, in speaking of entirely new
principalities as I shall do, I adduce the highest examples both of prince and
of state; because men, walking almost always in paths beaten by others, and
following by imitation their deeds, are yet unable to keep entirely to the ways
of others or attain to the power of those they imitate. A wise man ought always
to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been
supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savor
of it. Let him act like the clever archers who, designing to hit the mark which
yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of
their bow attains, take aim much higher than the mark, not to reach by their
strength or arrow to so great a height, but to be able with the aid of so high
an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.
Niccolò Machiavelli
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