Preview

The Prince Was Right Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
996 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Prince Was Right Summary
Machiavelli’s Guidelines to Ultimate Success
Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince is famous for setting the guidelines on how to be a successful leader. Machiavelli's idea of a successful leader consists of being a humble leader, while being humble, a leader must be aware, and whether or not a leader should wish to be loved or hated. In the article, "Machiavelli was Right" it compares today's later to have the princess one should act. A question arose by wondering if his thinking is fair to all leadership situations. Machiavelli believed to politics involved being evil but also the leader should not care of what people think of their leadership decisions.
A leader must always stay humble and genuine while ruling. Being a humble leader can lead
…show more content…
The idea of being perceived as good as brought up in chapter 18 of The Prince because a leader must act humble even when having to make tough decisions. Machiavelli's comparison, "the prince must be a fox recognize the traps and a lion to fry in the walls," is comparing humble to stingy and saying one must have balance while also being perceived as a leader of greatness. However, we cannot assume everyone is nice and genuine but we should pretend to think so. If successful leader has to be on his toes at all times. Machiavelli agrees with the statement by adding, "… He must have a mind ready to turn in any direction as fortune winds…" Keeping our allies is very important when ruling the country. We have to keep allies tight while also making decisions that benefit us. Some might say that is a selfish way of ruling but this goes back to the whole idea of being perceived or having a certain deception of goodness. The famous "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" comes in the play in this topic being selfish in order to benefit your people will satisfy the country. Deception is more important because a prince might have to make secret decisions that may not have moral outcomes, "… Not necessary to have a bout qualities but to appear to have been." Many leaders in history have been proceed is great to get into leadership but then later going to scandals that show their true

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli believes that a government should be very structured, controlled, and powerful. He makes it known that the only priorities of a prince are war, the institutions, and discipline. His writings describes how it is more important for a prince to be practical than moral. This is shown where he writes, "in order to maintain the state he is often obliged to act against his promise, against charity, against humanity, and against religion" (47). In addition, Machiavelli argues that a prince may have to be cunning and deceitful in order to maintain political power. He takes the stance that it is better for the prince to be feared than loved. His view of how a government should run and his unethical conduct are both early signs of dictatorship.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli states that a prince would be praiseworthy by many if he could achieve the fifteen virtues and vices that Machiavelli lists off in chapter fifteen. After, however, he writes, "But because he cannot have them, nor wholly, observe them, since human, conditions do not permit it, it is necessary for him to be so prudent as to know how to avoid the infamy of those vices that would take his state from and to be on guard against those that do not, if that is possible; but if one cannot, one can let them go on with less hesitation."( pg. 62, lines 9-15) Machiavelli writes that it is important for a prince to recognize virtu and act virtuously but not…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Machiavelli was a Florentine man of many skills. He was a renowned politician, author, and philosopher during the Renaissance, whose views and opinions affect the way people still think today. The Prince is his most famous work and in it he essentially states that humans are “ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving”. For that reason, a leader should rule through fear rather than love. However, what Europeans needed during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries were compassionate rulers. They were already frightened and disunited during the middle ages, thus adding a fearful leader to the mix would not help citizens feel safer.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The prince may gain power, but not glory. He gains esteem and glory through his courage. He must have wisdom to choose the least risky venture and act on it courageously and wisdom in picking his advisors. It is extremely important to gain the support of the people because you will need it in times of trouble. It also takes that same courage and wisdom to keep up the morale of his people during those troubled times. That is why a prince needs to relate to his people. He does not have to be loved by the people, but he must not be hated and should always be respected. However, Machiavelli makes a powerful case that it is better for a leader to be feared than loved. He feels that men respond more strongly to fear than love. Fear is constant, but love of the people can easily change. The prince cannot make people love him, but he has control over his people’s fear of him. Therefore, the course of action that the prince can best control is what he should pursue. In answering the question of whether it is better to be loved than feared, Machiavelli writes, “The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Consummately antithesis of what Plato says would assist in being a good leader and what a leader should fixate on, Machiavelli verbalizes that there should be nothing on the prince's (leader) mind other than mastering the art of war. A leader should fixate on the mechanics of war. Study it at all times. Know your opponent. War, to Machiavelli, is described as an art which needed the full attention of the designer. The only way to be head of the state and to win is to know this art. Have it thoroughly mastered not just mentally but also physically. Furthermore, prepare your mind, body, and soul. Learn how to be outdoors and the type of toll it would take on one’s body so you will not fall week during the real thing. Build one’s mind up to be vigorous and to be able to stand any additional mental strain and stress that may come during the genuine event of a war so that one could not be broken. Study how your opposing party handles their battles and their aspects of war. Learn and…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If a Prince rules liberally, he will be given a good reputation, but it can hurt you in the long run. Just having a good reputation won’t help out the people. It’s better to have a bad reputation and govern the right way, than to have a good reputation and destroy your land. A government should also be ran on the greediness of money and supplies. A ruler must always be rapacious with money. If he needs to spend a lot of money for something, he won’t have to tax the people even more than they already are. “…had not moderated his expenses, he would have destroyed his government.” “Nothing wastes so rapidly as liberality.” (Machiavelli 187) Machiavelli also wrote that to be a great leader, one must know how to be cruel to his subjects. If the Prince’s people feared him, then they would obey him rather than if they didn’t. If they didn’t fear him they may think that they can overpower him and rebel. “…it is much safer to be feared than loved” (Machiavelli…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he tackles of issues in society and the government as a whole. Machiavelli believed a good ruler is one that could give justice and provide some type of order to his citizens. He believed that a good ruler should focus more on the present rather than what could be. Machiavelli used several examples to demonstrate his way of thinking in a humanistic way and running a government. He used the fox and the lion for an example. A good ruler should be able to use cunningness and brute force per situation in which it is called for. Machiavelli believes that there are two ways of fighting something, that is by law or by force and he believed those are…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, Machiavelli shows that in order to be an effective prince, one must disregard the morality of one’s actions in certain times for the welfare of the state. This strong belief shows that Machiavelli’s best interests are in the state and not in the general population. Because he…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Machiavelli's philosophy was that "The end justifies the means." This meant that the end result is the most important, and how you got there was of no importance. The Prince was a book of advice to rules on how to found a state and how to stay in power. Machiavelli explained in his book the many different ways to gain power. One way was to acquire land. The four methods that he discusses to acquire more land is: Your own arms and virtue, fortune, others' arms, and inequity. To Machiavelli, the word virtue meant manliness and strength. Machiavelli also advocates the use of evil to achieve any goals. He gives an example of Agathocles of Syracuse as a proof that this works and will enable the prince to rule the land peacefully through fear. "Born of a potter, this one always had an iniquitous life throughout his years: nonetheless, he accomplished his iniquities with such virtue of spirit and of body that, having joined the militia, he rose through its ranks to become praetor of Syracuse. Being established in rank, and having decided to become prince and to keep with violence and without obligation to others what had been conceded him by agreement... ...one morning he convened the people and the senate of Syracuse, as if he had had to deliberate things pertinent to the republic; and at a preordained nod…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Prince was written by Niccolò Machiavelli while he was in exile. In his efforts to return to politics, Machiavelli wrote the Prince in order to exert the true nature of a successful leader, and once again be in the good graces of the Medici’s who were rising to power in Italy. The Prince reveals what Machiavelli views to be a successful leader. The Prince also reveals how Machiavelli views the nature of humans and how that effects how a dictator/leader should rule. Machiavelli believes human beings are selfish, greedy, easily manipulated, and incapable of self-governing as it often ends in their own demise. “[F]or men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves, and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules: wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards find by experience they have gone from bad to worse” (Machiavelli 201). Human selfishness inhibits the individual’s ability to make rational long-term decisions thus deeming them incapable of self-governing. If given the people the right to make their own decisions, their greed ill cloud their judgment and cause them to make decisions that may not be in their best interest. If the society is not capable of self-governing they will need a strong leader and Machiavelli has the recipe for the perfect…

    • 1869 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In The Prince, Machiavelli states that it is better to be hated then loved as a leader. I disagree with him, and say that it is much better to be loved then hated. There are certain people, like Alexander the Great and Caesar who were loved when they ruled, there is human nature that affects the way people respond to things, and how a prince treats his people.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    While Machiavelli believes that the higher road should be taken whenever possible, there are situations that may require that a leader set aside traditional morality in favor of cunning and trickery. As a pragmatist, he sees morality as a barrier to success in certain cases: "…it is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain his position to learn how not to be good." (Machiavelli, 127) Machiavelli's prince must learn how not to be good, because "…it is not necessary for a prince to have all of the above-mentioned qualities, but it is very necessary for him to appear to have them." (Machiavelli, 135) As a leader, the prince is subject to specific standards by the people and must always have a favorable and consistent public…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A leader is not a title earned for the sole purpose of bettering one’s position in society. After all, one cannot ordain themselves a leader, they must demonstrate themselves to be one to their peers and to themselves. Being a leader involves…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    absolutism and democracy

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Machiavelli once wrote about how to be a successful prince. Machiavelli explained that you have to be in good graces with your people in order to be a successful prince. Fear is a good thing, but love is also a good thing. Your people must be able to count on you, but they must also not want to revolt against you, which is why an absolute monarchy is the best thing according to them, at the time.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Beowulf and King David

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages

    First, a true leader has the confidence to stand alone and the courage to make tough…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays