The Prince

I recently finished reading The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. It is a political treatise written in the early 16th century and first published in 1532. It is something I have wanted to read for a long time. Widely debated, The Prince is essentially a practical guide for ruling. According to some of the informative context I read before beginning the book, "Machiavelli composed his treatise in order to prove to everyone, and to himself as well, that although he had been dismissed as Secretary (he was removed from his political position when a new group took over), he knew the art of the state better than anybody else in his time, and better even than the most revered political thinkers of antiquity, in particular Cicero and his modern followers."

Here are some noteworthy excerpts:

We have said above that a prince must have laid firm foundations; otherwise he will necessarily come to ruin. And the principal foundations of all states, the new as well as the old or the mixed, are goods laws and good armies.

A wise prince must follow such methods as these and never be idle in peaceful times, but he must turn them diligently to his advantage in order to be able to profit from them in times of adversity, so that when Fortune changes she will find him prepared to resist her.

A man who wishes to profess goodness at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain himself to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge or not to use it according to necessity.

From this arises an argument: whether it is better to be loved than to be feared, or the contrary. The answer is that one would like to be both one and the other. But since it is difficult to be both together, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved, when one of the two must be lacking.

Since, then, a prince must know how to make use of the nature of the beast, he should choose from among the beasts the fox and the lion; for the lion cannot defend itself from traps, while the fox cannot protect itself from the wolves. It is therefore necessary to be a fox, in order to recognize the traps, and a lion, in order to frighten the wolves; those who base their behavior only on the lion do not understand things.

Men are so simple-minded and so controlled by their immediate needs that he who deceives will always find someone who will let himself be deceived.

Princes must delegate distasteful tasks to others, while pleasant ones they should keep for themselves.

Without a doubt, princes become great when they overcome difficulties and obstacles imposed upon them.

And above all, a prince should strive in all of his actions to achieve the reputation of a great man of outstanding intelligence.

Prudence consists in knowing how to recognize the nature of disadvantages, and how to choose the lease sorry one as good.

The first thing one does to evaluate a ruler's prudence is to look at the men he has around him.

Therefore, a prince should always seek advice, but when he wants to, and not when others wish it. On the contrary, he should discourage anyone from giving him advice unless he asks for it. But he should be a very frequent questioner, and then, concerning the matters inquired about, a patient listener to the truth.


Overall, I would recommend reading this historical piece by Machiavelli.

-Joe