October 29, 2025

If you are involved in important affairs or seeking power, you must exaggerate your successes. It is a form of swindling and very much against my nature. But since your fate more often depends on the opinion of others rather than the facts, it is a good idea to create the impression that things are going well. The opposite reputation will be harmful to you.

Francesco Guicciardini (1483–1540), Italian historian and statesman, Ricordi, C, 86

What successes, no matter how petty, have you failed to trumpet, ever so casually of course?

This is the best justification for that perennial favorite of politicians—the “good news” story. Spin doctors—those tasked with the telling of these tales, have become an indispensable feature of the modern political scene and should never be left unappreciated.