In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.
 Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1532). copy citation

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Author Niccolò Machiavelli
Source The Prince
Topic weapons weight binding
Date 1532
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by W. K. Marriott
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm

Context

“David offered himself to Saul to fight with Goliath, the Philistine champion, and, to give him courage, Saul armed him with his own weapons; which David rejected as soon as he had them on his back, saying he could make no use of them, and that he wished to meet the enemy with his sling and his knife. In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.
Charles the Seventh,(*) the father of King Louis the Eleventh,(+) having by good fortune and valour liberated France from the English, recognized the necessity of being armed with forces of his own, and he established in his kingdom ordinances concerning men-at-arms and infantry.” source

Meaning and analysis

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