A report on the prince by niccolo machiavelli

Summary[ edit ] Each part of the Prince has been commented on over centuries. The work has a recognizable structure, for the most part indicated by the author himself. It can be summarized as follows:

Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency. Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romagna, unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty.

And if this be rightly considered, he will be seen to have been much more merciful than the Florentine people, who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to be destroyed.

Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual only.

And of all princes, it is impossible for the new prince to avoid the imputation of cruelty, owing to new states being full of dangers. Hence Virgil, through the mouth of Dido, excuses the inhumanity of her reign owing to its being new, saying: Res dura, et regni novitas me talia cogunt Moliri, et late fines custode tueri.

Upon this a question arises: It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.

Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you.

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And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.

Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is not hated, which will always be as long as he abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects and from their women.

But when it is necessary for him to proceed against the life of someone, he must do it on proper justification and for manifest cause, but above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.

Besides, pretexts for taking away the property are never wanting; for he who has once begun to live by robbery will always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to others; but reasons for taking life, on the contrary, are more difficult to find and sooner lapse.

But when a prince is with his army, and has under control a multitude of soldiers, then it is quite necessary for him to disregard the reputation of cruelty, for without it he would never hold his army united or disposed to its duties.

Among the wonderful deeds of Hannibal this one is enumerated: This arose from nothing else than his inhuman cruelty, which, with his boundless valour, made him revered and terrible in the sight of his soldiers, but without that cruelty, his other virtues were not sufficient to produce this effect.

And shortsighted writers admire his deeds from one point of view and from another condemn the principal cause of them. That it is true his other virtues would not have been sufficient for him may be proved by the case of Scipio, that most excellent man, not of his own times but within the memory of man, against whom, nevertheless, his army rebelled in Spain; this arose from nothing but his too great forbearance, which gave his soldiers more licence than is consistent with military discipline.

For this he was upbraided in the Senate by Fabius Maximus, and called the corrupter of the Roman soldiery. The Locrians were laid waste by a legate of Scipio, yet they were not avenged by him, nor was the insolence of the legate punished, owing entirely to his easy nature.

Insomuch that someone in the Senate, wishing to excuse him, said there were many men who knew much better how not to err than to correct the errors of others.

This disposition, if he had been continued in the command, would have destroyed in time the fame and glory of Scipio; but, he being under the control of the Senate, this injurious characteristic not only concealed itself, but contributed to his glory.The Prince [Niccolo Machiavelli, Adolph Caso, Rufus Goodwin] on timberdesignmag.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.

Machiavelli needs to be looked at as he really was. Hence: Can Machiavelli, who makes the following observations. The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli CHAPTER XVII Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared.

Machiavelli: The Prince: Chapter XVII

COMING now to the other qualities mentioned above, I say that every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel.

Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency. The Prince [Niccolo Machiavelli, Adolph Caso, Rufus Goodwin] on timberdesignmag.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.

Machiavelli needs to be looked at as he really was. Hence: Can Machiavelli, who makes the following observations.

The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli CHAPTER XVII Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared. COMING now to the other qualities mentioned above, I say that every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel.

Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency. Pope Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici, commissioned Niccolo Machiavelli, in , “to draw up his report on a reform of the state of Florence.” Martin Luther wrote 95 Theses in response to Leo X selling indulgences, so there was a lot going on at once.

The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]) is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò timberdesignmag.com correspondence a version appears to have been distributed in , using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities).

However, the printed version was not published until , five years after Author: Niccolò Machiavelli.