Question

Which answer best summarizes the main idea of the quotation? “How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation.”—Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

Answer 1

The answer that best summarizes the main idea of the quotation, is that a successful ruler must be observant and practical, not idealistic. Idealism is defined as any view that stresses the central role of the ideal or the spiritual in the interpretation of experience.