Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c118IR // #c118Synthesis

Those may be called properly used, if of evil it is possible to speak well, that are applied at one blow and are necessary to one’s security, and that are not persisted in afterwards unless they can be turned to the advantage of the subjects.

— In our words · Source: The Prince (Niccolò Machiavelli)

[Use when]

When debating whether to rip the bandage off.

[Why it matters]

The economy of cruelty: all necessary harm at one stroke, then benefits; the drip-feed of harm is what loses states.

More from The Prince

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