The Prince

not to describe or adorn their affairs, because I have wished that no embellishment honor it, or that only the truth of the matter and the gravity of the subject make it pleasing. Nor do I want it to be considered presumptuous if a man of low and humble status dares to discourse on and regulate the governments of Princes: because just as those who map countries place themselves low in the plains to consider the nature of the mountains and high places, and in order to consider the nature of the lowlands they place themselves high upon the mountains, likewise to know well the nature of the peoples one must be a Prince, and to know well that of the Princes one must be of the populace. May your Magnificence, therefore, take this little gift with the spirit in which I send it; if it is considered and read by you, you will discover within it my extreme desire that you reach that greatness which fortune and your other qualities promise you; and if your Magnificence will sometimes turn your eyes from the apex of your height to these low places, you will realize how unworthily I endure a great and continuous malice of fortune.

A woodcut depicts a basket overflowing with various flowers and foliage, resting on a flat rectangular base or plinth.