Machiavelli Chapter Summary

He discusses that the prince have military knowledge, love and fear, trustworthiness, and good and bad reputations. He deeply believes in the art of war. "...a prince must not have any objective nor any thought, nor take up any art, other than the art of war and its ordering and discipline; because it is the only art that pertains to him who commands. And it is of such virtue that not only does it maintain those who were born princes, but many times makes men rise to that rank from private station; and conversely one sees that when princes have thought more of delicacies than of arms, they have lost their state." He also writes about whether it is better to be loved or feared, stating that it is best to be feared, but not hated. Love can change in an instant, and it is better to always have control, even if the prince must be feared. Patriotism and dedication to the state was also a very important aspect. In conclusion, Machiavelli strived for power and strength by any means possible. Through violence and fear, the end result would be worth it to him.

On Monday morning, December 5, 1998, Peter James, CEO and Managing Director of Computer Power Group (CPG), a leader in the Australian IT education and services industry, was reflecting on the results of the recent Brand Visioning offsite – code named Project Horizon. He was satisfied with the future plan they had created for the brand, including an articulation of the brand purpose and values, a clear statement of branding objectives, and a brand architecture that effectively unified brands in the portfolio (see Exhibits 1 & 2). James was relieved that the team decided that they should change the corporate name to Interim Technology, the name of the

William Samuel Johnson was as delegate to the Constitutional convention, signed the Constitution and going on to the Senate as a Connecticut representative. He also served as President of Columbia University.

Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince give the world an insight on his thought about those who rule, virtue, military power, and human nature. He elaborates on his ideal prince who must take power, but also maintain power. The Prince is extremely relevant in modern society and often looked upon as the beginning of modern political thinking. Machiavelli gives this prince an outline of the tools needed to maintain power and reinforces these ideas by giving examples of other leader’s successes and failures. Machiavelli believes that the prince must complete understand the balance between war and government. Understanding this balance and being fluent in both politics and war is crucial for maintaining power. Politicians today still use some of the tactics given by

Machiavelli’s The Prince outlines tactics for a leader to seize and maintain lands under his power. His tactics have been demonstrated repeatedly throughout history, and though his approach is hardly ethical or idealistic, one cannot deny the fact that it has proved to be effective. Hitler is an example that exemplifies the accuracy of what Machiavelli said would bring success in the acquisition of new provinces.

To counteract talking about the easiness of governing a hereditary principality, Machiavelli explains why governing a new principality is so hard in his third chapter. In a new principality, people will willingly trade one ruler for another, hoping that the new one will be better than the last. They will take up arms against an unestablished prince, and they may come to realize a revolt is ineffective, but that won’t stop them from causing disorder. This new ruler must also make the people who put him into power realize that he cannot fulfill all of their expectations, but also not be too harsh with them, because he is in their debt. However, after having successfully suppressed a revolt, a prince may then harshly punish rebels and decimate

1) The duties and expectations of a courtier and lady-in-waiting are first, to be well born. With this, you possess all "skills". These skills may include social skills, effortless grace, education in art and music, athletic training, and military training. Additionally, they possess virtues such as education, courage, loyalty, and discretion. Aristocrats highly idolize these virtues and skills and try to perfect all of them in every way possible, so that they may teach others.

This passage comes from Chapter 18 of Machiavelli’s The Prince. The thesis of the chapter is that a ruler should not always be honest and trustworthy; rather, he should break the rules when it is to his advantage. In this quote, Machiavelli states that it is necessary to do wrong in order to hold onto power. At the same time, he makes clear that a ruler’s subjects must think that the ruler has positive qualities. Machiavelli views both these characteristics—apparent goodness and actual lack of it—as essential to a ruler’s success. In doing so, he implicitly makes the statement that there is no contradiction between the two. It is possible to do wrong and still be seen as good, Machiavelli implies, not because people judge a ruler’s hypocrisy as benign or beneficent; instead, it is possible because the people can simply be kept in the dark about the true nature of the ruler.

Machiavelli often “speaks well of evil” and cruelty and yet for many it is unacceptable to say anything bad about evil or to even mention it. He believes that those who come to power using brute force and cruelty should be respected but you should not necessarily follow what they do. In chapter 8 he talks about how if the prince must be cruel than he should never do so more than once or however many times in absolutely necessary because he will not have the continued trust of his people. It is permissible for Machiavelli to “speak well of evil” but he does not believe that being cruel or “speaking well of evil” is something that should be celebrated he sees it as something that should be respected.

Finally Machiavelli notes that inherent power of the public, which exists despite the dictatorial power that any prince exercises. When discussing fortresses, he states that "the best fortress a ruler can have is not to be hated by the people, for if you possess fortresses

The political situation that prompted Machiavelli to write The Prince was that Italy wasn’t a unified country yet. It was a bunch of city states.

Niccolo Machiavelli’s abstract work of The Prince discusses politics and government and focuses in not only acquiring power, but also how to maintain it. Throughout his work, one of the most prevalent yet disputed themes is between the acquirement of states between principalities and republics. The Prince shows a predominant and constant debate on which group will excel in acquiring power. However, despite Machiavelli’s harsh criticisms on principalities, his work does not solely praise or focus on the excellence of republics. In fact, as Machiavelli continues to speak and provide examples about the successes and failures of both republics and principalities, it becomes clearer that the lone purpose of The Prince is to merely provide tactics in political governance, instruction on how to maintain power once it is acquired, and most importantly, advice on how to become a great leader.

This semester in Mr. Sellers’ History class, we were asked to read a history novel and write a book review on it. I chose to read The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, and it sure did not disappoint. For a book on history, it was not so bad. The two parts to this review include a summary and a critical analysis. This paper will discuss the major points Machiavelli made in his book and analyze his tone and writing style, with an overall critique.

Prowess refers to an individual’s talents, while fortune implies chance or luck. A prince who manages to gain power by relying on his own prowess will succeed at maintaining power because his prowess will have built him a firm foundation for ruling. Princes who succeed due to the sway of fortune or the goodwill of others lack a basis from which to rule and will have difficulty building it quickly enough to prevent power from slipping out of their hands. Thus, although princes who rely on fortune reach their position easily, maintaining that position is extremely difficult. Therefore it is commendable that a prince succeeds on their own prowess, which will help build stronger fundamentals for themselves. He will have the loyalty of his army, which is analogous to the allegiance of the boss’ employees and the respect of leaders of surrounding principalities, which is also comparable to the esteem of other companies. Overall, the more self-reliant this authority figure is, the more he will prove capable of success as he will be better equipped to deal with problems and

What must be understood is that the throne is always in jeopardy and someone is always there to try to knock the prince off his pedestal. This is a prime understanding that a prince must have, and fuels the infamous argument by Machiavelli that it is better to be feared than loved. Machiavelli explains that, for the most part, love is very subjective and eventually will subside unless further concessions are made to appease his subjects. In addition, people only care about their personal conveniences and a prince would have to overextend himself if he were to be loved by all. Fear, however, is not subjective and has a universal effect on all his people. Fear can be attained by sporadic violent acts. One must understand, however, that massive amounts of violence can not be done because it would portray the Prince as tyrant, and might stir up his people to revolt against him. The acts must be calculated, concise, and serve a direct purpose not only to his benefit but to the people’s also. Despite what might be assumed, Machiavelli is really developing a principality based around the people, where the Prince’s actions are merely to save his own head from the chopping block.