The Prince

The Prince

Governing countries and states properly has been a difficult task from the

beginning of time. In every country there will be people to who are unhappy

and will disagree with your rule, causing your system to fail. So, century after

century, people have tried new ways to make their politics suffice everyone's

needs. However, the art of politics is a complicated and challenging issue that

will always be needed to be dealt with. There have been many ways in which

people have preached their ideas on politics, but none were better than those of

Niccolo Machiavelli. Born in 1469, Niccolo was adamant in creating a master

plan for seizing and controlling power. He voiced these themes on what it takes

to be a prince of a state in his magnificent book, The Prince. In his book many

themes were expressed in order to fulfill the role of a prince. These themes

ranged from human nature to military force and most importantly virtue.

Machavelli believed that the state is the highest achievement of man and

one should love the state more than his own soul. Being the perfect prince is

clearly a difficult task, but if done correctly, it can be very rewarding. Machiavelli

also believed that human nature does not change. In general Machiavelli

thought people were ungrateful, selfish, and insincere people, who only care

about themselves. Therefore the government must take account for man's true

nature and use his qualities for its purposes. Machiavelli also explained that a

ruler who intends to be successful must be prepared to do bad things when

necessary. He must sometimes caress, sometimes hurt, sometimes forgive, and

sometimes punish. This requirement must override all moral judgments, and

when making the decision, the ruler must act without hesitation. Hesitation

would project "false wisdom".

Another, and probably the most important concept of political success is

the idea of virtue. Virtue means strength, intelligence, and courage, the

necessary qualities of any human being. Machiavelli felt that the quality of virtue

was found in some of the world's most important leaders; Moses, Cyrus, and

Romulus to name a few. Governments ruled by an individual depends upon this

leaders virtue. Without it, the political success will crumble.

Aside from virtue there is fortune or fate as we sometimes put it. Although

Machiavelli feels that the quality of virtue is necessary for a states success,

chance or luck also has an affect. He feels that in life no matter how much

intelligence and strength you have, there is a part of life in which you have little

or no control over. Virtue being a powerful quality, Machiavelli saw its potential

to build a defense against fortune. However, fortune is inconsistent and variable

so, you must treat it like a woman. Machiavelli states, and I quote, "fortune is

woman, and it is necessary, if you wish to master her, to conquer her by force".

His point is that when you encounter fortune, you must approach it aggressively.

Machiavelli said that the ruler must be able to imitate both the lion and the

fox. He is saying that the qualities of a ruler must show the bravery and strength

of a lion, but also, the slyness of the fox. These characteristics are imperative

for a new ruler especially. That way he can get the respect from the people right

away. An example of one ruler who showed both the qualities of a lion and a fox

was Septimus Serverus, a Roman emperor from 193-211 A.D. Another quality of

a ruler should be that he is both loved and feared. In actuality, it is almost

impossible to be both those, so it is better to be feared. Love can lose

effectiveness