In a letter addressed to Francesco Vittori, an ambassador to the Pope, an impoverished Niccolo

Machiavelli asks Francesco to consider a little book he has written on power and principalities.
Within this letter, Machiavelli writes a moving passage about the sublime affect of the intellectual
and philosophical arts:

"When evening comes, I go back home, and go to my study. On the threshold I take off my work
clothes, covered in mud and filth and put on the clothes an ambassador would wear ... I enter the
ancient courts of rulers who have long since died. There I am warmly welcomed, and I feed on
the only food I find nourishing and was born to savor. I am not ashamed ... Hours go by without
my feeling anxiety ... I forget every worry. I am no longer afraid of poverty, or frightened of death."

I have always wanted to become a philosopher. However, this decision has not always been
easy. While philosophy has always inspired feelings of contentment, it has always inspired fear -
fear of poverty and estrangement - of a life characterized by hardship and failure. A philosopher
is someone who when not scorned by society is humiliated by it. Philosophers are often those
who challenge what passes for common sense and received opinion. It is said that a park bench
can support a family of four, but a philosopher cannot. But I am no longer afraid. I am hopeful. I
am hopeful that graduate study in philosophy at California State University Los Angeles will give
me the confidence and craft to become what I have always wanted to be - a professor of
philosophy.

I would like to use the program as a stepping-stone to pursue a doctoral degree in philosophy.
To this end, I want to develop my capacities as a philosopher - in logic, writing, and the history of
philosophy. I also want to be exposed to contemporary philosophical issues. I realize I am still in
a position of learning. It will be satisfying to know that I will be warmly welcomed by a supportive
faculty and a student body that shares my interests.

Machiavelli demonstrated the dilemma of the philosopher - either pursue the ecstasies of
philosophy at personal risk or live an unexamined life of material complacency in the service of
others. Fortunately, the contemporary philosopher's situation is not so dire; but this is now a
simple decision for me. I would rather know that I have tried and failed, then to have not tried at
all. Philosophy has been a terminal and birthplace for physics, astronomy, biology, psychology,
and mathematics. I would be honored to study and work in a field which I hold in such high
regard.