Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

... He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation; for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil.

What is Machiavelli’s advice to a leader who is confronted with doing the virtuous thing or the thing that best assures survival?

-to choose destruction rather than violate a moral code
-to choose to do what is best for the people
-to choose the virtuous course
-to choose the course that will ensure survival