Students who desire to gain a still closer insight into the working of Guicciardini's mind should consult the 403 _Ricordi Politici e Civili_ collected in the first volume of his _Opere Inedite_.

These have all the charm which belongs to occasional utterances, and are fit, like proverbs, to be worn for jewels on the finger of time.
The biography of Niccolo Machiavelli consists for the most part of a record of his public services to the State of Florence.

He was born on May 3, 1469, of parents who belonged to the prosperous middle class of Florentine citizens.

His ancestry was noble; for the old tradition which connected his descent with the feudal house of Montespertoli has been confirmed by documentary evidence.[1] His forefathers held offices of high distinction in the Commonwealth; and though their wealth and station had decreased, Machiavelli inherited a small landed estate.

His family, who were originally settled in the Val di Pesa, owned farms at San Casciano and in other villages of the Florentine dominion, a list of which may be seen in the return presented by his father Bernardo to the revenue office in 1498.[2] Their wealth was no doubt trivial in comparison with that which citizens amassed by trade in Florence; for it was not the usage of those times to draw more than the necessaries of life from the Villa: all superfluities were provided by the Bottega in the town.[3] Yet there can be no question, after a comparison of Bernardo Machiavelli's return of his landed property with Niccolo Machiavelli's will,[4] that the illustrious war secretary at all periods of his life owned just sufficient property to maintain his family in a decent, if not a dignified, style.