The Prince by Machiavelli

Time for another classic ;-)

This one’s written in 16th Century Italy. An era of much monetary interest, as discussed in Nial Ferguson’s The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World (strongly recommended!)

If you’re going to read this one cover-to-cover it may take a while as the language used is challenging for those of us who’re not English literature teachers (I had to read it with a dictionary by my side).

What follows are some quotes from The Prince I found meaningful. Enjoy!

“…whoever is responsible for another’s becoming powerful ruins himself, because this power is brought into being either by ingenuity or by force, and both of these are suspect to the one who has become powerful.”

How cities of principalities which lived under their own laws should be administered after being conquered

“But when cities or provinces are used to living under a prince, they cannot agree on the choice of a new prince from along themselves and they cannot live in freedom without one. So they are slower to take up arms, and a prince can win them and assure himself of them more easily. But in republics there is more life, more hatred, a greater desire for revenge; the memory of their ancient liberty does not and cannot let them rest; in their case the surest way is to wipe them out or to live there in person.”

“Men who become rulers by prowess similar to theirs acquire their principalities with difficulty but hold them with ease.”

“…it is necessary for a prince to have the friendship of the people; otherwise he has no remedy in times of adversity.”

“…a wise prince must devise ways by which his citizens are always and in all circumstances dependent on him and on his authority; and then they will always be faithful to him.”

Military organization and mercenary troops

“We said above that a prince must build on sound foundations; otherwise he is bound to come to grief. The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms; and because you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow, I shall not discuss laws but give my attention to arms.”

“Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous.”

“I want to show more clearly what unhappy results follow the use of mercenaries. Mercenary commanders are either skilled in warfare or they are not: if they are, you cannot trust them, because they are anxious to advance their own greatness, either coercing you, their employer, or by coercing others against your own wishes. If, however, the commander is lacking in prowess, in the normal way he brings about your ruin. If anyone argues that this is true of any other armed force, mercenary or not, I reply that armed forces must be under the control of either a prince or a republic: a prince should assume personal command and captain his troops himself; a republic must appoint its own citizens, and when a commander so appointed turns out incompetent, should change him, and if he is competent, it should limit his authority by statute. Experience has shown that only princes and armed republics achieve solid success, and that mercenaries bring nothing but loss; and a republic which has its own citizens army is far less likely to be subjugated by one of its own citizens than a republic whose forces are not its own.”

Auxiliary, composite, and native troops

“…auxiliary forces can prove useful and reliable, but for the one who calls them in they are almost always a disaster. You are left in the lurch if they are defeated, and in their power if they are victorious.”

“”To sum up cowardice is the danger with mercenaries, and valour with auxiliaries.
Wise princes, therefore, have always shunned auxiliaries and made use of their own forces. They have preferred to lose battles with their own forces than win them with others, in the belief that no true victory is possible with alien arms.”

“…a mixed force, partly mercenary and partly citizen: this combination is far better than a purely auxiliary or purely mercenary force, and far inferior to a citizen army.”

“I conclude, therefore, that unless it commands its own arms no principality is secure; rather, it is dependent on fortune, since there is no valour and no loyalty to defend it when adversity comes.”

How a prince should organize his militia

“The art of war is all that is expected of a ruler”

“As for intellectual training, the prince must read history, studying the actions of eminent men to see how they conducted themselves during war and to discover the reasons for their victories or their defeats, so that he can avoid the latter and imitate the former.”

“A wise prince must observe these rules; he must never take things easy in times of peace, but rather use the latter assiduously, in order to be able to reap the profit in times of adversity. Then, when his fortunes change, he will be found ready to resist adversity.”

Generosity and parsimony

“…if you do in fact earn a reputation for generosity you will come to grief.”

“…not mind being called a miser.”

“So a prince must think little of it, if he incurs the name of miser…”

Cruelty and compassion; and whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse

“By making an example or two he will prove more compassionate than whose who, being too compassionate, allow disorders which lead to murder and rapine.”

“…it is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.”

“Men worry less about doing injury to one who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared. For love is secured by a bond of gratitude which men, wretched creatures that they are, break when it is to their advantage to do so; but fear is strengthened by a dread of punishment which is always effective.”

“…a wise prince should rely on what he controls, not on what he cannot control. He must only endeavour, as I said, to escape being hated.”

How princes should honour their word

“Men in general judge by their eyes rather than by their hands; because everyone is in a position to watch, few are in a position to come in close touch with you. Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”

“The common people are always impressed by appearances and results.”

The need to avoid contempt and hated

“He will be despised if he has a reputation for being fickle, frivolous, effeminate, cowardly, irresolute; a prince should avoid this like the plague and strive to demonstrate in his actions grandeur, courage, sobriety, strength. When settling disputes between his subjects, he should ensure that his judgement is irrevocable; and should be so regarded that no one ever dreams of trying to deceive or trick him.
The prince who succeeds in having himself thus regarded is highly esteemed; and against a man who is highly esteemed conspiracy is difficult, and open attack is difficult, provided he is recognised as a great man, who is respected by his subjects. There are the two things a prince must fear: internal subversion from his subjects; and external aggression by foreign powers.”

“…strive assiduously to escape the hatred of the most powerful classes.”

“…one can be hated just as much for good deeds as for evil ones…”

Whether fortresses and many of the other present-day expedients to which princes have recourse are useful or not

“…as soon as you disarm your subjects you start to offend them, showing whether through cowardice or suspicion that you mistrust them; and on either score hatred is aroused against you.”

“But when a prince acquires a state which is annexed to his original principality, like a new limb, then he must disarm his new subjects, except for those who were his partisans. Even they, as time and opportunity allow, must be made weak and effeminate, and matters must be so arranged that throughout your dominions only your own soldiers, serving near you in your original dominion, are armed.”

“…when he has the chance an able prince should cunningly foster some opposition to himself so that by overcoming it he can enhance his own stature.”

How a prince must act to win honour

“Nothing brings a prince more prestige than great campaigns and striking demonstrations of his personal abilities.”

“Above all, in all his doings a prince must endeavour to win the reputation of being a great man of outstanding ability.”

“Here it is to be noted that a prince should never join in an aggressive alliance with someone more powerful than himself, unless it is a matter of necessity, as I said above. This is because if you are the victors, you emerge as his prisoner; and princes should do their utmost to escape being at the mercy of others.”

A prince’s personal staff

“The first opinion that is formed of a ruler’s intelligence is based on the quality of the men he has around him. When they are competent and loyal he can always be considered wise, because he has been able to recognize their competence and to keep them loyal. But when they are otherwise, the prince is always open to adverse criticism; because his first mistake has been in the choice of his ministers.”

How flatterers must be shunned

“A prince must, therefore, never lack advice. But he must take it when he wants to, not when others want him to; indeed, he must discourage everyone from tendering advice about anything unless it is asked for. All the same, he should be a constant questioner, and he must listen patiently to the truth regarding what he has inquired about. Moreover, if he finds that anyone for some reason holds the truth back he must show his wrath.”

“So the conclusion is that good advice, whomever it comes from, depends on the shrewdness of the prince who seeks it, and not the shrewdness of the prince on good advice.”

Why the Italian princes have lost their states

“This is because men are won over by the present for more than by the past…”

“…this is a common failing of mankind, never to anticipate a storm when the sea is calm”

“The only sound, sure, and enduring methods of defence are those based on your own actions and prowess.”

Do you know what? Reviewing these notes has reminded me just how good this book is. There’s so much one can apply to business and life here it’s unreal.

Although only a small book (85 pages) it does take a bit of time to read, and as mentioned you’ll likely need a dictionary — but well, well worth it!

Hope you enjoyed the above.

Sincerely,

Sam