THE SECOND BOOK 203 



19. As for the knowing of men which is at second 

 hand from reports ; men s weaknesses and faults are 

 best known from their enemies, their virtues and abilities 

 from their friends, their customs and times from their 

 servants, their conceits and opinions from their familiar 

 friends, with whom they discourse most. General fame 

 is light, and the opinions conceived by superiors or 

 equals are deceitful ; for to such men are more masked : 

 Verior fama e domesticis emanat. 



20. But the soundest disclosing and expounding of 

 men is by their natures and ends, wherein the weakest 

 sort of men are best interpreted by their natures, and 

 the wisest by their ends. For it was both pleasantly 

 and wisely said (though I think very untruly) by a nuncio 

 of the pope, returning from a certain nation where he 

 served as lidger ; whose opinion being asked touching 

 the appointment of one to go in his place, he wished 

 that in any case they did not send one that was too 

 wise ; because no very wise man would ever imagine 

 what they in that country were like to do. And cer 

 tainly it is an error frequent for men to shoot over, and 

 to suppose deeper ends, and more compass reaches than 

 are : the Italian proverb being elegant, and for the 

 most part true : 



Di danari, di senno, e di fede, 

 C 6 ne manco che non credi : 



There is commonly less money, less wisdom, and less 

 good faith than men do account upon. 



21. But princes, upon a far other reason, are best 

 interpreted by their natures, and private persons by 

 their ends. For princes being at the top of human 

 desires, they have for the most part no particular ends 

 whereto they aspire, by distance from which a man 

 mought take measure and scale of the rest of their 

 actions and desires ; which is one of the causes that 

 maketh their hearts more inscrutable. Neither is it 

 sufficient to inform ourselves in men s ends and natures 

 of the variety of them only, but also of the predomi 

 nancy, what humour reigneth most, and what end is 



