I say that every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel. He must, however, take care not to misuse this mercifulness.
One of two things is usually lacking in the so-called Philosophy of Art: either philosophy or art.
The symmetry and organization of history teaches us that mankind, during its existence and development, genuinely was and became an individual, a person. In this great personality of mankind, God became man.
If one writes or reads novels from the point of view of psychology, it is very inconsistent and petty to want to shy away from even the slowest and most detailed analysis of the most unnatural lusts, gruesome tortures, shocking infamy, and disgusting sensual or spiritual impotence.
A genuinely free and educated man should be able to tune himself, as one tunes a musical instrument, absolutely arbitrarily, at his convenience at any time and to any degree, philosophically or philologically, critically or poetically, historically or rhetorically, in ancient or modern form.
The highest good and solely useful is liberal education.
The few existing writings against Kantian philosophy are the most important documents in the case history of sound common sense.
Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.
So during those first moments of the day, which are yours and yours alone, you can circumvent these boundaries and concentrate fully on spiritual matters. And this gives you the opportunity to plan the time management of the entire day.
Those who know they're valued irrespective of their accomplishments often end up accomplishing quite a lot. It's the experience of being accepted without conditions that helps people develop a healthy confidence in themselves, a belief that it's safe to take risks and try new things.
Status symbols are poor excuses for values.