POWER- USE IT OR LOSE IT

Power  is the ability  to change things. so if u have power , but don"t use it, you are wasting it.
in 1506 letter , written seven year before he started work on the prince itself  'every one should act as his spirit moves him and audaciously'.

One of the many remarkable aspects of the prince is that it was written as a gift for the rulers from the  medici family , who had only recently had machiavlli tortured for couple of weeks after he was implicated in a conspiracy against them. his tortured had involved being hoisted into the air by his hands , which were tied behind his back . when you are  suspended like this your shoulders tend to pop out joint, but machiaveli  never complains about this in his book ,or in any of his letters . in this word ,torture is necessary as an instrument of power
FROM - NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI'S THE PRINCE