Some recent re-discoveries from Niccolo Machiavelli - The Prince
How Flatterers Must Be Shunned
"the only way to safeguard yourself against flatterers is by letting pple understand that you are not offended by the truth; but if everyone can speak the truth to you then you lose respect."
"a shrewd prince...should choose wise men for his govt and allowing only those the freedom to speak the truth to him, and then only concerning matters on which he asks their opinion, and nothing else. But he should also question them thoroughly and listen to what they say; then he should make up his own mind, by himself. And this attitude...should be such that they will recognise the more freely they speak out, the more acceptable they will be."
"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."
A Prince's Personal Staff
"When they (the prince's men) are competent and loyal, he can always be considered wise...but when they are otherwise, the prince is always open to adverse criticism; because his first mistake has been in the choice of ministers."
"To keep his minister up to the mark, the prince must be considerate towards him, must pay him honour, enrich him, put him in his debt, share with him both honours and responsibilities. Thus the minister will see how dependent he is on the prince; and then having riches and honours to the point of surfeit, he will desire no more; holding so many offices, he cannot but fear changes. When, therefore, relations between princes and their ministers are of this kind, they can have confidence in each other; when they are otherwise, the result is always disastrous for one or the other of them."
How A Prince Must Act To Win Honour
"A prince also wins prestige for being a true friend or a true enemy. This policy is always more advantageous than neutrality."
"If the powers neighbouring on you come to blows...it will always be to your advantage to declare yourself and to wage a vigorous war; because, in the first case, if you do not declare yourself you will always be at the mercy of the conqueror, much to the pleasure of the one who has been beaten, and you will have no justification nor any way to obtain protection or refuge. The conqueror does not want doubtful friends who do not help him when he is in difficulties; the loser repudiates you because you were unwilling to go, arms in hands and throw in your lot with him."
"when you boldly declare your support for one side, then if that side conquers, even though the victor is powerful and you are at his mercy, he is under an obligation to you and he has committed himself to friendly ties with you; and men are never so unprincipled as to deal harshly and ungratefully with you in this instance."
"If on the other hand your ally is defeated, he will shelter you; he will help you while he can, and you becomes associates whose joint fortunes may well change for the better. Now in the 2nd case, when the combatants are such that you need have no fear of the victor, there is all the reason to support one side or the other. In this way you help destroy one combatant with the help of the other..."
"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...this is because if you are the victors, you emerge as his prisoner."
"no govt should ever imagine that it can always adopt a safe course; rather, it should regard all possible courses of action as risky. This is the way things are: whenever one tries to escape one danger one runs into another. Prudence consists in being able to assess the nature of a particular threat and in accepting the lesser evil."
"the only way to safeguard yourself against flatterers is by letting pple understand that you are not offended by the truth; but if everyone can speak the truth to you then you lose respect."
"a shrewd prince...should choose wise men for his govt and allowing only those the freedom to speak the truth to him, and then only concerning matters on which he asks their opinion, and nothing else. But he should also question them thoroughly and listen to what they say; then he should make up his own mind, by himself. And this attitude...should be such that they will recognise the more freely they speak out, the more acceptable they will be."
"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."
A Prince's Personal Staff
"When they (the prince's men) are competent and loyal, he can always be considered wise...but when they are otherwise, the prince is always open to adverse criticism; because his first mistake has been in the choice of ministers."
"To keep his minister up to the mark, the prince must be considerate towards him, must pay him honour, enrich him, put him in his debt, share with him both honours and responsibilities. Thus the minister will see how dependent he is on the prince; and then having riches and honours to the point of surfeit, he will desire no more; holding so many offices, he cannot but fear changes. When, therefore, relations between princes and their ministers are of this kind, they can have confidence in each other; when they are otherwise, the result is always disastrous for one or the other of them."
How A Prince Must Act To Win Honour
"A prince also wins prestige for being a true friend or a true enemy. This policy is always more advantageous than neutrality."
"If the powers neighbouring on you come to blows...it will always be to your advantage to declare yourself and to wage a vigorous war; because, in the first case, if you do not declare yourself you will always be at the mercy of the conqueror, much to the pleasure of the one who has been beaten, and you will have no justification nor any way to obtain protection or refuge. The conqueror does not want doubtful friends who do not help him when he is in difficulties; the loser repudiates you because you were unwilling to go, arms in hands and throw in your lot with him."
"when you boldly declare your support for one side, then if that side conquers, even though the victor is powerful and you are at his mercy, he is under an obligation to you and he has committed himself to friendly ties with you; and men are never so unprincipled as to deal harshly and ungratefully with you in this instance."
"If on the other hand your ally is defeated, he will shelter you; he will help you while he can, and you becomes associates whose joint fortunes may well change for the better. Now in the 2nd case, when the combatants are such that you need have no fear of the victor, there is all the reason to support one side or the other. In this way you help destroy one combatant with the help of the other..."
"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...this is because if you are the victors, you emerge as his prisoner."
"no govt should ever imagine that it can always adopt a safe course; rather, it should regard all possible courses of action as risky. This is the way things are: whenever one tries to escape one danger one runs into another. Prudence consists in being able to assess the nature of a particular threat and in accepting the lesser evil."
posted by Ming at 12:12 AM
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