Here begins a series on Rochefoucauld’s Maxims in the context of the race for the Presidency. What can a thin book by a seventeenth century Frenchman teach us about modern politics? Possibly quite a lot.
In a letter to Dr. Richard Price arguing for checks and balances against abuses of power, John Adams quoted Rochefoucauld:
The ambitious deceive themselves, when they propose an end to their ambition; for that end, when attained, becomes a means.
Does Rochefoucauld shine light into the realities of power and ambition, or has he has unfairly denigrated much of what we call virtue? Adams found the maxims meritorious enough to use them in support for his arguments about good government. Such a concise work (504 maxims in the 1871 English translation), how could we, the denizens of a world made of sound bites and talking points, not find the Maxims well-suited to our purposes? If Rochefoucauld’s arrows of wisdom are on target, they should still hit the mark today.
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