Read the excerpt from “princely virtues” from the prince and answer the question. because i know that many have written on this topic, i fear that when i too write i shall be thought presumptuous, because, in discussing it, i break away completely from the principles laid down by my predecessors. but since it is my purpose to write something useful . . i think it more effective to go back to the practical truth of the subject than to depend on my fancies about it. by writing about “practical truth” rather than “fancies,” machiavelli distinguishes his ideas from those of writers who base their ideas about leadership on imagined worlds of generally good people harsh realities of betrayal and competition theoretical models of princely virtue and vice scientific understanding of the human behaviors