Don't you want to know our names?
A scoundrel in new clothes asked me,
The mob was always drawn to appearances and results.
Once he had respectability, he began speaking and acting like a respectable man.
I learned a lesson:
If a man did not display nobility, greatness, courage, fearlessness, steadiness, strength, and power from the very beginning,
then no matter how hard he tried afterward, it would all be in vain.
At the same time, I had to give people the impression that no one should ever hope to deceive or hoodwink me.
I feared no power, even if they were many and I stood alone.
When they feared me, attacking me became difficult for them.
An emperor fell either because of hatred or contempt.
Generosity and kindness might win an emperor praise, but scoundrels would only see him as weak and easy to bully.
Nor did the softhearted know how to earn the loyalty that would make others lay down their arms and surrender.
Yet humans were both reluctant to trust and inclined to rely on past experience.
If someone felt it humiliating to serve under another, he would find a way to rebel.
People worshipped heroes and longed to leave their names in history,
but they did not realize that their desires were as impossible to fill as the Barrel of the Danaids.
It was impossible to satisfy them in everything,
unless you tore open your own belly and, like Prometheus, let greedy vultures feast on your liver.
Other than force and money, what could earn me sincere respect?
Anyone who did something extraordinary, whether good or evil, could make them uneasy while filling their minds entirely with such great deeds,
until, in their actions, they pursued more than merely their own benefit.
To keep him good,