Law #1 Never outshine the master

Not quite the same as Chip's summary of Ptahhotep's first maxim:

"It's pretty good actually. It's saying if your superior is mouthing off then hold your tongue and don't let your advanced knowledge trip you up. Let him go on and restrain yourself then he will get the reputation of being a know-nothing."

It worked for a young person I know. He was counseled by an older relative to not complain about his boss to her superiors, but to give her enough rope. He followed the advice and ended up with a promotion.

In the service it's called following the chain of command. Now what was that movie where someone defined the chain of command as something they would beat you with if you did not follow their order? Really, I'm asking.

The Devil Who Took A Wife

Belphagor

All this talk of Niccolò Machiavelli and his sage advice to princes overlooks some equally sage insight he gave to men regarding women. Il Demonio Che Prese Moglie (The Devil Who Took A Wife) was originally published in 1539 under the title La Novella di Belfagor Ardiavolo (The Short Story Of Belfagor, Arch-Demon). The whole story is here, translated. I have an Italian copy bound in my trusty Beginning Readings In Italian. I found a synopsis here and repost it below, but the whole story is not too long to enjoy. To me, the story is a a mash-up of Trooper York's "Hell Needs A New PA Announcer" and Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life." But instead of an angel sent down to Earth from Heaven, it's a demon sent up from Hell back to Earth:

The princes of Hell plan to send Belfagor, an archdevil to earth to find why all men state women as the cause of their damnation. Belfagor takes the human name Roderigo and weds Onesta, who he actually falls in love with. But his wife brings misfortunes and debt and Roderigo is chased from town by a mob, only to be saved by Gianmatteo, to whom Roderigo promises great riches. Roderigo says he will possess a woman and Gianmatteo will pretend to exorcise her. Gianmatteo learns of a girl possessed and exorcises Roderigo from her, but Roderigo says that the payment will not make him rich enough, so he possess the daughter of King Charles. Gianmatteo is called upon to take the demon from the daughter of King Charles. He leans over to whisper in her ear and tells Roderigo to leave. Roderigo agrees, but says he is no longer bound to Gianmatteo and for him to stay out of his way from now on. Gianmatteo is rewarded and before long he is called upon to help the daughter of the King of France, who shows signs of being possessed. Gianmatteo reluctantly goes to perform the exorcism. Roderigo is stubborn and will not leave the girl and Gianmatteo tells the King that he will try one last ceremony on Sunday. That Sunday, crowds, the clergy, and instrumentalist gather in the town with the possessed girl high on a scaffold above them. Gianmatteo asks for Roderigo to leave one last time and Roderigo mocks him. Gianmatteo cues the band to play and Roderigo asks what the horrible sound is. Gianmatteo tells him it is his wife, coming to fetch him back. Roderigo panics and flees at the mention of his wife and returns to Hell to report the 'troubles, humiliations, and hazards of the matrimonial yoke.'

"In remarks at Nelson Mandela's funeral, Obama makes it personal"

"Michelle and I are the beneficiaries of that struggle. But in America and South Africa, and countries around the globe, we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not done," he added, reminding the crowd that people still suffered under oppression." (bold mine)

"Over 30 years ago, while still a student, I learned of Mandela and the struggles in this land. It stirred something in me," Obama said. "It woke me up to my responsibilities - to others, and to myself - and set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today. "And while I will always fall short of Madiba's example, he makes me want to be a better man."

What is a "fact", as the term has come to be understood politically?

On the upcoming anniversary of a letter Niccolò Machiavelli wrote—"called the most celebrated in all Italian literature—to his friend Francesco Vettori announcing that he has just completed “a little work, On Principalities.” It later acquired the title The Prince, under which it became the most famous, and infamous, book on politics ever written"... a writer for the Weekly Standard attempts to briefly dissect its implications for us today.

The phrase “effectual truth” appears in Machiavelli’s writings only once—“to concentrate its power,” Mansfield says—and nowhere else in prior or contemporaneous Italian or Renaissance literature. It seems to be merely one of Machiavelli’s excuses for his immoral teaching: a prince must have recourse to the effectual truth of how men do live, as distinct from how they ought to live, so that he may learn how not to be good, lest he come to ruin among so many who are not good.

Difficulties in the text reveal a deeper meaning. Those who wish “to make a profession of good in all regards” are above all the ancient writers who “imagined republics and principalities that have never been seen or known to exist in truth.” The effectual truth is not merely the truth that has an effect. It is the visible truth, the truth of sense perception, of concrete reality—the truth that displays itself. Here is the creation of the concept of “fact,” which is meaningless unless understood in opposition to what purports or aspires to be but is not fact: that which is merely supposed or hoped for or believed. Here also is the beginning of the break with ancient metaphysics and teleology that has, after centuries of working through the implications, left the West morally bereft. If what cannot be felt or seen cannot be real, how can it guide our actions? Attempts to find the answers through “science”—the latest being brain chemistry—only further radicalize the Machiavellian premise.

Washington Examiner, Weekly Standard and Andrew Sullivan via Althouse