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I do not wish to leave out an important branch of this subject,

for it is a danger from which princes are with difficulty

preserved, unless they are very careful and discriminating. It is

that of flatterers, of whom courts are full, because men are so

self-complacent in their own affairs, and in a way so deceived in

them, that they are preserved with difficulty from this pest, and

if they wish to defend themselves they run the danger of falling

into contempt. Because there is no other way of guarding oneself

from flatterers except letting men understand that to tell you

the truth does not offend you; but when every one may tell you

the truth, respect for you abates.