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Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

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The Prince was a scandalous political theory book written in 1513 by Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat and political logician. The Prince disregarded political norms of having well rounded and moral leaders, replacing those figures was the idea of a ruthless prince, not limited by morality or religion. Niccolò Machiavelli was born in 1469 in Florence, in 1498 he was appointed secretary and second chancellor to the Florentine Republic. Machiavelli’s most well-known work was The Prince and one of the more famous ideas of this piece is when Machiavelli advises in chapter 18 for princes to be both like a fox and a lion. Machiavelli was and is widely known as a daring and honest political theorists whose ideas are relevant to this day. Niccolò …show more content…

Machiavelli starts off the chapter with the statement “Everyone realizes how praiseworthy it is for a prince to honour his word and to be straightforward rather than crafty in his dealings; none the less a contemporary experience shows that princes who have achieved great things have been those who have given their word lightly, who have known how to trick men men with their cunning” (Machiavelli, 56). Machiavelli in this quote deliberately attacks the societal norm of having an honest and sincere leader. Machiavelli claims that many believe that princes should be honest and true to their word, but he declares that a smart prince would act in the opposite fashion by giving their word lightly and being cunningly deceptive. Furthermore, Machiavelli continues to say that even if you do not possess these qualities, to deceive your people and at least appear to contain these characteristics. Machiavelli states, “A prince, therefore, need not necessarily have all the good qualities I mentioned above, but he should certainly appear to have them… He should appear to be compassionate, faithful to his word, kind, guileless, and devout. And indeed he should be so. But his disposition should be such that, if he needs to be the opposite, he knows how.” (57). This quote corresponds with the metaphor of being both a fox and a lion because Machiavelli is talking about how a prince should have two sides, one he shows to the public and one he uses to deal with internal affairs. It also connects to the analogy through the simple idea of having two sides of oneself in being a prince. Having one ferocious side and one clever side, having one side a prince shows to the world that really is just a mask for how he is truly dealing with political affairs. Overall, this analogy fits into the argument Machiavelli projects

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Then for Machiavelli he talks about how a prince should show no fear instead for him to show that he is the one with power. That a prince's people should fear him. Both authors go on to talk on how their people react based on the prince and princesse act. The authors then go on to explain how they should view and run their people. Both authors also reflect the fact that the way their people are going to act towards them is mainly based off of how they treat them.

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President Obama echo a leadership of both Niccolo Machiavelli "The Qualities of the Prince" and Martin Luther King Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Machiavelli point of view to become a successful prince was that you must lead your people. He talks about how a prince should appear to his people for authority. There are different types of principles such as war and is it better to be loved or feared.

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In Niccolo Machiavelli's book, The Prince (1513), he evaluates on how a prince can be a successful leader. Machiavelli’s purpose of this guidebook was to construct his argument to the rising ruler Giuliano de Medici for when he comes to power in Florence. He adopts a casual but authoritative tone in order to convince the prince that Machiavelli’s evaluation on how to be the best prince, is the right thing for the prince to do without coming off as he knows more than the prince or is trying to intimidate him.. Machiavelli’s reference to previous rulers and whether their tactics failed or succeeded helps to benefit his credibility along with his allusion to historic text. He appeals to our logic by simply stating a prince can only do what is within his power to control, and his use of an analogy furthers his argument.

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Machiavelli argues the perfect prince will be both feared and loved by his people, and if unable to be both he will make himself feared and not hated. Machiavelli believes it is much safer to be feared than to be loved because people are less likely to offend and stand up against strong characters, also people are less concerned in offending a prince who has made himself loved. Accordingly, Machiavelli believes generosity is harmful to your reputation and the choice between being generous or stingy, merciful or cruel, honest or deceitful, should only be important if it aids the prince in political power. All in all, Machiavelli believes the ruler must be a great deceiver and do what is essential to uphold power over the

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Machiavelli wrote about a fictitious prince, describing how he is a terrible being who has no respect for people who have a lower status than him. He is described as being selfish and untrustworthy. His writing about this prince was supposed to replicate princes and kings that were ruling and open he reader’s eyes to real issues occuring. In Document 1 there is an excerpt from The Prince, written by Machiavelli, telling about how terrible the Prince of England. Document 1 states, “For all men in general this observation may be made: they are ungrateful, fickle, and deceitful, eager to avoid dangers, and avid for gain, and while you are useful to them they are all with you, but when it [danger] approaches they turn on you”.

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The Prince and the Discourses, by Machiavelli as a gift to the prince. Because it was the best thing that Niccolo Machiavelli could give to him. He was trying to teach the prince ways to stay in power. Machiavelli even stated it himself “I can consider of this subject, discussing what a principality is, the variety of such states, how they are won, how they are held, and how they are lost” (Machiavelli xxiv). The main focus of his work was with monarchies because he did not care for republics.

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One aspect of Machiavelli’s theory which significantly contributes to his reputation as the “philosopher of evil,” is his advice to the prince on keeping their word to the public. In chapter eighteen, Machiavelli states, “a wise ruler cannot, and should not, keep his word when doing so is to his disadvantage, and when the reasons that led him to promise to do so no longer apply” (pg. 37). To simplify, Machiavelli says princes are obligated to lie in certain circumstances. He also states that while it is unnecessary for the prince to have positive qualities, such as honesty, trustworthiness, sympathy, compassion, or be religious, it is essential for the prince to be viewed so by the public (pg. 37). While many people argue that Machiavelli’s legitimization of lying and deception in politics is immoral, I argue the opposite.

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Hence, he uses personal pronouns like “you” and “I” as well as phrases like “My reply is.” This makes it seem like The Prince becoming famous was neither Machiavelli’s first priority nor real purpose; he simply wanted to express his knowledge on the western government and gives advice on how to be a strong leader. Also, some of his words sound like he was in grief. For instance, the sentence that says “But as soon as you need help, they turn against you.” It could be that he was disappointed or was betrayed that he decided to put together The Prince.

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In Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, he maintains a harsh perspective on reality. His advice on how to maintain power leaves no room for compassion or generousity. While some may believe that these are qualities of a good person, Machiavelli believes these qualities lead to the downfall of rulers. He acknowledges that, in reality, it is impossible for someone to have qualities of a good person and simultaneously a good ruler. Machiavelli’s realistic outlook causes him to emphasize that it is better to maintain power through fear, rather than compassion.

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I'm Niccolo Machiavelli and I was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy, I was a diplomat for a long time in Italy's Florentine Republic amid the Medici family's exile. I composed "The Prince" book for politicians on the utilization of heartless, rousing the expression "Machiavellian." My perspectives of human nature firmly impacted my suggestions for governing. The Prince is a handbook for how one ought to rule. To my comprehension of human nature, it was an absolute rebellion of what humanists lectured and attempted to show others.

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674 Words | 3 Pages

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513, a time when Italy as a whole had yet to be formed; the Italian subcontinent consisted only of loosely connected groups of independent city states with a constantly evolving political battleground. Thus Machiavelli wrote The Prince to convey his idea of a strong, active, and in his own eyes, perfect ruler to the current ruling family, the Medici, as he wished to impress them and become an eventual political attaché for the family. Machiavelli argues that when given a choice it is better to be feared than loved, and bases the majority of his rhetorical argument on logical cause and effect conclusions that are exemplified through his use of anecdotes, and analogy. The excerpt begins at chapter fifteen with Machiavelli stating that he writes the prince in order to “make something useful for whoever understands it” (Machiavelli ch.15), and he expounds upon this simple purpose by devising clear and logical solutions to many of the problems that a ruler may face.

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A wolf has a little bit of smarts and can be fierce when they are in packs. Machiavelli considered a good prince to be a mixture of a fox and a lion. Also, he wanted a prince that would honors his own words and to be generally praised by others. An example of a prince that would not be ideal in Machiavelli 's eyes would be Adolf Hitler.

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Both of these highly influential authors had different opinions on ruling that would shape how people would rule during their time and for rulers to come. One of Machiavelli’s major points in The Prince was that it was better to be feared than to be loved. He said this was because while both ways can be useful tools to help one rule, men are less likely to turn a ruler if they were afraid of punishment. Machiavelli had little faith in the common man and had this to say about them, “They are ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of dangers, eager to gain”(pg.353).

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Probably one of the most infamous and controversial ideologies of the 16th century, the prince by Machiavelli has been a reference for many great leaders and academicians since it was published. The book provides historically tested and proven principles of leadership. The prince has been described as a manual for those who want to win and retain power. While some may argue that leadership is an inherent trait in human, leaders are made, not born. Making a great leader out of a person is not just a matter of identifying the leadership traits, skill and talents of the individual, but harnessing the traits, develop them and eventually mastering how to be leader.

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I. Machiavelli In his famous work the Prince Niccolo Machiavelli exposes what it takes to be a good prince and how only this good price and keep control over his state. There are many different qualities that make a man a good ruler but there are some that are more essential than others. In this work Machiavelli stresses the importance of being a warrior prince, a wise prince, and knowing how to navigate the duality of virtù and vices. Without these attributes there was no way that a prince could hold together their state and their people.

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