His thought pivots around a central, uncomfortable observation that the wicked tend to win, and they do so because they have a huge advantage over the good.

他的思想圍繞在一個令人不安的觀察上：邪惡的人更容易獲得勝利，而這是因為壞人與好人相比有著巨大的優勢。

They are willing to act with the darkest ingenuity and cunning to further their cause.

他們願意為了達到目的不擇手段，用盡心思想出最骯髒與狡猾的主意。

They are not held back by those rigid opponents of change: principles.

他們不會被死板的原則所箝制。

They will be prepared to outright lie, twist facts, threaten or get violent.

他們隨時準備公然撒謊、扭曲事實、脅迫他人，甚至是使用暴力

They will also, when the situation demands it, know how to seductively deceive, use charm and honeyed words, bedazzle, and distract.

他們也會在需要時引誘、欺騙、花言巧語、分散眾人的注意力。

And in this way, they conquer the world.

他們靠著那樣的方法征服了世界。

It's routinely assumed that a large part of what it means to be a good person is that one acts well.

好人經常被當作是做行為良善的人。

One doesn't only have good ends; one is committed to good means.

這樣的人不但要有良善的目標，還必須使用良善的手段才行。

So, if one wants a more serious world, one needs to win people over through serious argument, not click-bait.

比如若想要有個更嚴肅的世界，就要以嚴肅的論證贏得人心，而不能隨口唬人。

If one wants a fairer world, one has to judiciously and gently, try to persuade the agents of injustice to surrender willingly, not through intimidation.

如果想要一個更公平的世界，就必須賢明溫和地說服不義之士心悅誠服，不能採取恐嚇手段。

And if one wants people to be kind, one must show kindness to one's enemies, not ruthlessness.

想要他人親切待人，就要以親切而不是殘忍的方式去對待敵人。

It sounds splendid.

聽起來相當理想。

But Machiavelli couldn't overlook an incontrovertible problem: it doesn't work.

但馬基維利無法忽視其中顯而易見的問題：這種辦法行不通。

As he looked back over the history of Florence and the Italian states more generally, he observed that nice princes, statesmen, and merchants always come unstuck.

當他回頭去看佛羅倫斯和義大利的歷史時，他觀察到善良的王子、政治家和商人總是失敗。

That's why he wrote the book for which we know him today, "The Prince."

因此他便寫下了使那本他留名青史的著作：《君王論》。

A short, dazzling manual of advice for well-disposed princes on how not to finish last.

這本簡短卻令人目眩神迷的的小冊子，旨在告訴有那些懷抱著良善意圖的王子們，應該要怎麼做才不會敬陪末座。

And the answer, in short, was to be as nice as one wished, but never to be overly devoted to acting nicely.

而簡短的解答是：你可以如你所願地保持善良的態度，但永遠不能過度堅持善良的行動。

And indeed to know how to borrow, when need be, every single trick employed by the most cynical, dastardly, unscrupulous, and nastiest people who have ever lived.

當有必要的時候，要懂得從最憤世、卑鄙、無恥、齷齪的人手中借用他們的手段。

Machiavelli knew where our counterproductive obsession with acting nicely originated.

馬基維利清楚明白我們為何會渴望做些對自己沒有好處的好事。

The West was brought up on the Christian story of Jesus of Nazareth, the very nice man from Galilee who always treated people well and wound up as the king of kings and the ruler of eternity.

西方人聽著基督教的耶穌故事長大，而這位超級善良的好人總是待人和善，最終成了萬王之王，永恆的統治者。

But Machiavelli pointed out one inconvenient detail to this sentimental tale of the triumph of goodness through meekness: from a practical perspective, Jesus' life was an outright disaster.

但馬基維利卻指出了這個慈悲善良的美好故事中的癥結：從現實的角度來看，耶穌的人生完全是場災難。

This gentle soul was trampled upon and humiliated, disregarded and mocked, judged in his lifetime and outside of any divine assistance, he was one of history's greatest losers.

這個和善的靈魂被踐踏、羞辱、漠視與嘲笑，若單就他在世時的經歷而不論宗教上的神聖性來看，他根本是史上最失敗的人物之一。

The clue to being effective lies in overcoming all vestiges of this story.

成為有效率的成功人士的線索，就隱藏在這個故事未言明的部分之中。

"The Prince" was not, as is often thought, a guide to being a tyrant; it's a guide about what nice people should learn from tyrants.

《君王論》常被誤解為是一本教人如何成為暴君的書，但它其實是一本教導好人該從暴君身上學習些什麼的導覽。

It's a book about how to be effective—not just good.

這本書要說的是如何才能有效地達到目的，而不是只是堅持要行為良善而已。

It's a book haunted by examples of the impotence of the pure.

整本書種充斥著因為過於潔身自愛而導致失敗的例子。

The admirable prince—and today we might add CEO, political activist, or thinker—should learn every lesson from the slickest and most devious operators around.

受敬仰的王子和今日的企業執行長、政治活動者、思想家等等，都應該從最靈活狡詐的人身上學習。

They should know how to scare and intimidate, cajole and bully, entrap and beguile.

他們應該學習如何嚇人、威脅、誘騙、霸凌、製造陷阱和詐欺。

The good politician needs to learn from the bad one, the earnest entrepreneur from the slick one.

好的政治人物必須和壞的政治人物學習，誠實的企業家應該向狡猾的企業家學習。

We are all, ultimately, the sum of what we achieve, not, what we intend.

畢竟我們的人生到頭來還是以實際達成的成就所定義，而不是以我們「想要」有怎麼樣的結果而定義。

If we care about wisdom, kindness, seriousness, and virtue, but only ever act wisely, kindly, seriously, and virtuously, we will, Machiavelli warns us, get nowhere.

如果我們在意智慧、善良、嚴肅與美德，卻總是只以智慧、善良、嚴肅與美德為宗旨來行動，那麼馬基維利警告我們，我們終究會一事無成。

We need to learn lessons from an unexpected source: those we temperamentally most despise.

我們必須從意料之外的地方學習：也就是從那些我們最鄙視的人們身上。

They have the most to teach us about how to bring about the reality we yearn for, but that they are fighting against.

他們最知道如何才能帶來我們想要的現實世界，儘管那是他們所反對的世界。

We need weapons of similar grade steel to theirs.

我們需要能與他們抗衡的武器。

Ultimately, we should care more about being effective than about being nobly intentioned.

比起在意是否有著高尚的意圖，我們到頭來應該要更關心如何才能達到成效。

It's now enough to dream well. The true measure is what we achieve.

美夢在腦袋想想就夠了。最終能否有所成就才是真正的衡量標準。

The purpose is to change the world for the better, not reside in the quiet comforts of good intentions and a warm heart.

我們的目標是成就一個更好的世界，而不是沉浸在平靜舒適的好意和溫馨之中。

All this Machiavelli knew.

馬基維利深知如此。

He disturbs us for good reason, because he probes us where we are at our most self serving.

他的說法之所以讓我們不安，是因為他探查到了我們心中最自私自利的那部分。

We tell ourselves we didn't get there because we're a little too pure, good, and kind.

我們總是告訴自己，我們不成功的原因就是我們太純潔、善良與仁慈。

Machiavelli bracingly informs us we are stuck because we have been too short-sighted to learn from those who really know: our enemies.

而馬基維利告訴我們：我們無法前進的原因，其實是我們過於短視，不願從真正知道方法的敵人身上學習。