Machiavelli "Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense." Ralph Waldo Emerson knew exactly how our society thinks when he said those words. The Prince, written by Machiavelli, was made of his thoughts on being or becoming a ruler. Because Machiavelli's ideas were, like Emerson said,"...examples of common sense...," people were shocked by them. Machiavelli's ideals for society reflect common sense. It does not matter how loving a ruler …showed first 75 words of 547 total…

…showed last 75 words of 547 total…be fair is to give society what it wants, not what it needs. A ruler mustn't give the people any power becuase that would only lower the power of the ruler. Just because society thinks that ruling kindly is the proper way, does not validate it. If everyone would simply understand what they know and not what they want, then it would be clear that Machiavelli's ideas consisted of nothing but truth and common sense.