Summary of Erica Benner's Be Like the Fox

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 In 1475, Bartolommea went to church with her serving girl Nencia. She found her husband, Bernardo, in his study, studying Titus Livy’s histories of Rome. She told him that Nencia was with child, and that the father was their neighbor Nicolò di Alessandro Machiavelli.
#2 When dealing with people who are likely to lie, you should appeal to their self-interest. Most people care more about their own gains than about doing the decent thing.
#3 The sinews of a common human life are contracts, informal agreements, and reciprocal duties. They are the basis of any human relationship, and they play a large role in Bernardo’s daily life. He had inherited a few small farms outside the city, as well as a tavern in the village of Sant’ Andrea in Percussina, near San Casciano.
#4 The world that Niccolò grew up in was full of promises, and people depended on them to function. If they didn’t keep their promises, it was too risky to sell, buy or borrow anything.

Sujets

• Autobiography
• Biography
• Philosophy
• Lettres et linguistique
• Philosophers

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 10 juin 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822528901
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Erica Benner's Be Like the Fox
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12 Insights from Chapter 13 Insights from Chapter 14 Insights from Chapter 15 Insights from Chapter 16
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In 1475, Bartolommea went to church with her serving girl Nencia. She found her husband, Bernardo, in his study, studying Titus Livy’s histories of Rome. She told him that Nencia was with child, and that the father was their neighbor Nicolò di Alessandro Machiavelli.

#2

When dealing with people who are likely to lie, you should appeal to their self-interest. Most people care more about their own gains than about doing the decent thing.

#3

The sinews of a common human life are contracts, informal agreements, and reciprocal duties. They are the basis of any human relationship, and they play a large role in Bernardo’s daily life. He had inherited a few small farms outside the city, as well as a tavern in the village of Sant’ Andrea in Percussina, near San Casciano.

#4

The world that Niccolò grew up in was full of promises, and people depended on them to function. If they didn’t keep their promises, it was too risky to sell, buy or borrow anything.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

Machiavelli’s father was a farmer who spent his time between his farms in Sant’ Andrea and steeped in Roman histories. His elder son would breathe new life into some of these names in his books.

#2

When dealing with men who are far more competitive than you, don’t sink to their level. Instead, make your own rules and play by them. You will end up as mindless as they are, and someone will eventually beat you.

#3

Education is more to Bernardo and Niccolò than a means to a career. They see it as a way to gain a reputation for being educated, while getting on with the more serious business of buying, selling, and cutting profitable deals.

#4

Niccolò eventually falls in love with the tradition of writing. He begins to respect his favorite ancients’ devotion to human welfare across time and space, and their desire not just to make a name for themselves while they live, but to leave something that will help others long after their death.
Insights from Chapter 3

#1

The city of Florence was ruled by a dynasty of leaders who had very different standards of conduct. The young duke and his wife came to visit the city, and their courtiers displayed no respect for others. They burned down a church during a show they put on, and many believed that God was angry with Florence because of it.

#2

Lorenzo was raised from a young age to rule Florence, but he was also raised to believe that he was not supposed to rule over other people. He embraced this contradiction so easily that he made people forget its existence.

#3

The first signs of danger appeared during the war with Volterra in 1472. Lorenzo, who was three years old at the time, recounts the episode in his Florentine Histories. The Volterrans were protesting the use of their city’s alum deposits by Florentine investors.

#4

The war on Volterra was a huge victory for Florence, but it also showed the young leader’s ruthlessness. He destroyed the city’s towers, except for one, which became a prison. He claimed that he was fighting to make Florence great, but his actions showed otherwise.

#5

Bernardo Machiavelli, the author’s father, was a landowner and the owner of a small country villa as well as the house in the city. He was far from an easy-living country squire. His farm rents were modest, and so were his owner’s portion of the wine, olive oil, apples, vinegar, and trees for timber.

#6

Girolamo was Bernardo's second cousin, and he lived next door to the Machiavelli family. He was a lawyer who taught law and jurisprudence at the university in Florence. He was a tireless defender of his city's interests, and a fair-minded judge in domestic matters.

#7

The city of Florence was torn apart by political factions in the 1450s. Girolamo Machiavelli, a leader of the anti-oligarchic faction, was exiled in 1458. He blamed those who wanted to monopolize power for the few.

#8

The first First Citizen’s role was so ambiguous that the Machiavelli family couldn’t confidently attribute some of their finest sons’ deaths to him. Cosimo de’ Medici, now old and weary, stayed home while a few citizens plundered the city.

#9

After the death of Luca Pitti, the city was attacked by Bernardo Machiavelli’s cousins, who were critics of the Medici. The city was destroyed by its own citizens, who were tired of the Medici’s oligarchic rule.
Insights from Chapter 4

#1

On Sunday, April 26, 1478, High Mass was being celebrated in Florence’s main cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. Two well-dressed young men, Francesco Pazzi and Bernardo Bandini, escorted Giuliano to his death. They had pretended to be his friends, but they were actually trying to kill him.

#2

The conspiracy that led to the murder of Giuliano and Lorenzo, and the subsequent purge of the Florence government, exposed a fatal weakness in the Medici strategy of pretending to be amiable, equal citizens while acting like princes.

#3

The war between Florence and the Pope began two months ago, and the Florentines were quickly struck by plague. The sickness spread quickly through the city, into military camps, and no one knew how to cure it.

#4

While traveling back to his city house from Sant’ Andrea, Bernardo felt sick.