Fortune

The Wrath Of Least Persistence

Quintus Curtius Thought , , , ,

Everyone has heard the tired phrase, “path of least resistance.”  It represents a principle that I have no objection to.  Of course there is no reason to make more work for oneself without good reason.  No one is arguing with this idea.  All things being equal, the shortest path to a goal is usually the best.  But it occurred to me today to take this phrase and modify it a bit to create another principle, one perhaps equally valid, yet one far less frequently discussed.  Let us consider this new phrase:  the wrath of least persistence.  What do I mean by this?

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Machiavelli’s Three Key Concepts

Quintus Curtius Thought , , ,

renny

If a political scientist were asked who might be the most misunderstood writer of political theory, he would probably have the name of Machiavelli high on his list.  To his name have been ascribed sinister motivations and calculated duplicity; and unscrupulous cherry-picking of his quotes has fashioned him into an ogre in the popular mind.

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No One Can Be Assured Of Having Tomorrow

Quintus Curtius Literature, Thought , ,

vortex

I have finally finished the complete translation of Cicero’s On Duties.  It has been an exhausting, laborious, maddening, and joyous experience.  There still remains a lot of work to do before it is finally ready for publication:  revising, editing, adding more textual notes, indices, explanatory essays, and a few other things.  But the end is finally in sight.

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