Niccolo Machiavelli's The Qualities Of A Prince

Machiavelli believes that the foundation of a strong Nation State is a strong army. According to The prince the most important part of being a leader is studying the art of war. Staying in power is a main point in the prince and to stay in power a Prince must conduct a strong army. The Prince proclaims not only do you need a strong army but also you need to be in total control of that army. “Prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables

Machiavelli concentrated more on the way things should be and how to manipulate them for his own personal gain rather than for the betterment of the state. He was well-known for being a political thinker who believed that outcomes justified why things happened. A key aspect of Machiavelli’s concept of the Prince was that “men must either be caressed or annihilated” (Prince, 9). What Machiavelli meant by

Machiavelli did not energize the thought in confiding in the ones that lead, however, “[…] men are a sorry lot and will not keep their promises to you, you likewise need not keep yours to them.” (230) He hoped for strategy, injustice, and unlawfulness from his kin and composed his tenets all things considered under the beliefs of being a pragmatist. While discovering “they are ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, greedy for gain” (228) the function of Prince was to hold and manage opposed to giving the general population a chance to thrive or set a

To be the prince, you have to be unethical. Machiavelli’s philosophy can be seen as cruel and evil, however, I believe that he is just teaching what he believes will work when governing. The reason behind his cruelty and terror as instruments are simply instruments of leadership – not because he finds joy in harming and scaring others. The effective truth of the matter is that certain times call for punishment and putting fear into people in order to keep power. For those who are in power – the prince – will have a natural urge to keep their own state.

For many centuries, there have been many leaders and rulers around the world making their own rules and decisions. In the Book “The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli, Machiavelli describes ways that leaders can be successful if they follow his advice. One leader that shows Machiavelli’s advice by the way they rule is Adolf Hitler.The way he ruled was by fear, violence, and by conquering other countries. Although Hitler had some failures during his lifetime, he shows how Machiavelli’s advice is relevant in today's leaders.

Niccolo Machiavelli’s most famous book, The Prince, contains the most valid information for a prince, a president, and even a king, to keep hold of their own power. Machiavelli tells about the importance and power of political action, his opinions, and most of all philosophy at it’s finest. Throughout the twenty-six chapters of this book he describes the bold, brave, practical, and powerful prince and how the prince’s life should be lived. Machiavelli’s view of human nature is used as justification for his political advice to princes. Niccolo Machiavelli was very intelligent, motivated, and dedicated while writing this book, he attempts to inform princes how to come to power by being powerful; he determines if nature and the environment a prince lives in is the cause of their failure and success.

Machiavelli did not seek to change the worldview of leadership when he composed The Prince in 1513. However, The Prince later became widely praised and criticized for its ruthless and immoral tactics for a ruler to gain and hold power. Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a guide to gain power; he wrote it in a blunt way without flowery language so that anyone who read the book would understand exactly what was required to gain and hold absolute power. One of the main focuses of the book is an explanation of the characteristics of an ideal prince and how those defined traits can help one hold and maintain power.

From describing world leaders to political antiheroes in television dramas, characterizing someone as a “Machiavellian figure” is perceived more as derisive description than an accurate representation of that person’s philosophical views of power. This popular depiction is due to Niccolo Machiavelli’s harsh portrayal of the interlaced relationship between power and politics in his treatise, The Prince. Machiavelli begins his work by contending that it is “more effective” to reveal the “practical truth of a subject” rather than “depend on [his] fancies for it”(Machiavelli 2524). His rejection of idealism and focus on realism impels him to claim that a ruler has to be acquainted with and effectively use both virtue and vice to wield power over his subjects. However, Machiavelli’s philosophical justifications which allow him to arrive at such a conclusion are based on three problematic beliefs which are that the public is easily gratified with a fulfillment of their most basic desires, the ruler has to develop a narcissistic personality to understand how to wield power and the ruler, as a man, must beat the woman Fortune to have dominion (Machiavelli 2531). These assumptions are what gives the term “Machiavellian” such a negative connotation; more importantly, they reveal that Machiavelli’s understanding of power is problematic since it is not based on realism but on an idealized view of the general public and masculinity.

In addition to the concerns of the people, another important factor a ruler must consider is how easily it is for him to be blamed for something; actions among his kingdom can very quickly be trailed back to his decisions. Machiavelli suggests that, “it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how now to be good, and to use this knowledge and not us it, according to the necessity of the case” (p. 63). Again, we see Machiavelli arguing that a prince must use the most basic practicality in addition to understanding the various virtues that complement it. This use of common sense for the benefit of the state calls for generosity, mercy, and craftiness as well as an appropriate level stubbornness and imperiousness.

In the novel The Prince, Niccoló Machiavelli gives advice regarding what qualities and actions are beneficial to those acquiring and holding their own state or principality. He discusses different ways in which a person can attain a principality, and based on that way, what one should do to maintain it. He talks about the manner in which such a leader should make decisions, what qualities they should possess, and how they should be seen by the public. It is evident in the case of Maximilien Robespierre, an influential figure during the French Revolution, that he rose to power because he followed Machiavelli’s advice and fell out of power when he began to not follow it. When this behavior is compared to those of modern leaders, it is clear that Machiavelli’s advice concerning coming into power, qualities a leader should have, and the manner in which a leader should make decisions is still highly

On the surface, Machiavelli's The Prince teaches leaders how to best acquire and maintain power. Machiavelli said that his purpose of writing is to tell the "real truth of the matter". The truth according to Machiavelli is that people who are seldom are what they appear to be and that people who focus on ideals and principles or what ought to be done will end up ruined. Some people thought that Machiavelli's intentions was to expose how autocratic leaders have truly exercised their power throughout history. Some even say that he wrote The Prince to secure a government position from Lorenzo de' Medici, who was the ruler of Florence. Others believed that he meant it as a warning to Florentines to look out for tyrants like Medicis. Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli’s advice towards leaders in his book The Prince is both relevant and not relevant today in many ways. The European leader that I have chosen to prove what advice Machiavelli gave in The Prince is relevant and what is not, is Edward Heath. Some of Edwards work relates to the advice given by Machiavelli while many of it is the pure opposite of Machiavelli’s advice.

To maintain the kingdom respecting and honoring a king or prince he must be polite but not too generous to his people. Machiavelli reminds the reader, yet again, that it is important to be liked and not to be weak and handle decisions and complications wisely. However, a leader should change thing from time to time to keep things new and people enlightened. To be a good ruler, they must gain respect of the people by keeping them pleased. When changing things however, make sure they’re good things such as lowering thing rather than taking things from your people such as firearms. The people will begin to wonder why their things were taken and hate the one who implied such catastrophe. Also Machiavelli believes in Fortresses because of the fear in the people, however, it doesn’t last. Therefore, a prince should stick to trying to please their people rather than Fortress. By a king winning wars, changing things, allowing freedom, and thinking of their people a king shouldn’t be

Machiavelli claims war should always be at the forefront of a prince’s mind and that in times of peace he should be a massing weapons with which he can fortify his throne. He teaches that if used correctly both cruelty and religion can both be exploited to benefit the prince. Machiavelli explains how a prince must appear merciful, faithful, humane, honest, and faithful, but still be able to commit moral ambiguities when needed. A prince must be both man and beast. He will be left vulnerable to stronger and more ruthless powers if he remains all man, but if he is all beast the people will rebel due to his cruelty. He needs to maintain a good balance and possess the ability to use cruelty and mercy interchangeably. But he must not swing to far towards one extreme or the other. Machiavelli repeatedly expresses the importance of supporting the allusion of these nicety, especially religion he even individually calls out religion. He explains that men generally pay more attention to appearances then to actually content and actions. Another weapon a prince can use to sustain a successful new society is the ability to perceive threats before they become a problem. Machiavelli

Histories have seen many of those gigantic powers who have no mercy on human being, people who used the concept of Machiavelli. Our brain is not a machine and working with food, water and air, they are not all the same. Each one is created in a way genetically and the initializes of someone’s life integrated. Thinking about and expressing meaning for the existences around is I different, so as this is happens, each one takes the prince’s ideology in their way. And I think most of who used it, beginning from the dictators and democratic reached a way, but for some lost the track and reached a dead-end, and for some reached the evaluation of their acts.