God forbade...must reading!

Machiavelli






His name and its ‘savvy’ are common. From ‘getting even’ at all costs to using people to their best ability, here are his own exerpts.





Niccollo Machiavelli , the name a synonym for political artfulness and ruthless conspiracy. But he has been applauded for having an exact and worldly sense of political realities and for understanding the actual and operative forces in political life.





The Prince



  He who is the cause of another’s greatness is, himself, undone, since he must work either by address or force, each of which excites distrust in the person raised to power.



   Men for the most part follow in the footsteps and imitate the actions of others, and yet are unable to adhere exactly to those paths which others have taken, or attain to the virtues of those whom they would resemble, the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled. If he cannot reach their perfection, he may, at least, acquire something of its savour.



   Those princes who acquire by mere good fortune, do so with little trouble, but have trouble keeping it. They lack the knowledge and power that would enable them to maintain. Unless they have great parts and force of character, they are not expected to have learned to command, having always lived in a private station. States suddenly acquired, like all else produced and grown rapidly can never have such root or hold as the first storm which strikes them shall not overthrow them. Unless Princes have a capacity for learning quickly how to defend what Fortune has put in their lap and can lay the foundations after they rise which by others are laid before.



   To slaughter fellow citizens, to betray friends, to be devoid of honor, pity and religion cannot be counted as merits, for these are the means which may lead to power, but which confer no glory.





  While it was their opportunities that made these men fortunate, it was their own merit that enabled them to recognize these opportunities and turn them to account, to the glory and prosperity of their country.



   But, before all things, a Prince should so live with his subjects that no sudden change of good or evil fortune shall oblige him to alter his behavior; because, if a need to change come through adversity, it is then too late to resort to severity; while any leniency you may use will be thrown away, for it will be seen to be compulsory and gain you no thanks.



   Mercenaries are disunited, ambitious, insubordinate, treacherous, disrespectful among friends, cowardly before foes and without fear of God or faith with man. Whenever they are attacked defeat follows; so that in peace you are plundered by them, in war by your enemies. And this because they have no tie or motive to keep them in the field beyond their paltry pay, in return for which it would be too much to expect them to give their lives. They are ready enough, therefore, to be your soldiers while you are at peace, but when war is declared they make off and disappear.



   For the gains resulting from mercenary arms are slow, late and inconsiderable, but the losses sudden and astounding.



  The ruler is not truly wise who cannot discern evils before they develop themselves and this is a faculty given to few.



   A Prince should have no care or thought but for war, and for the regulations and training it requires and should apply himself exclusively to this as his peculiar province; for war is the one art looked for in one who rules. It not only maintains those born Princes, but allows men to rise to that eminence from a private station. On the other hand we often see that when Princes devote themselves rather to pleasure than to arms, they lose their dominions. And as neglect of this art is the prime cause of such calamities, so to be proficient in it is the surest way to acquire power.



  A Prince ought never to allow his attention to be diverted from warlike pursuits and should occupy himself with them even more in peace than in war, by practice or study.

Know the terrain, learn how it can be defended.



  A good Prince should strive as other great men have so that he may derive strength from them in the hour of danger and find himself ready should Fortune turn against him to resist her blows.



   Many Republics and Princedoms have been imagined that were never seen or known to exist in reality. And the manner in which we live, and that in which we ought to live, are things so wide asunder, that he who quits one to betake himself to the other is more likely to destroy than to save himself; since anyone who would act up to a perfect standard of goodness in everything, must be ruined among so many who are not good. It is essential for a Prince who desires to maintain his position, to have learned how to be other than good and to use or not use his goodness as necessity requires. There may be a line of conduct having the appearance of virtue to follow would be his ruin and that there may be another course having the appearance of vice, by following his safety and well-being are secured.



    It is an unerring rule and of universal application that a Prince who is not wise himself cannot be well advised by others, unless by chance he surrender himself to be wholly governed by someone adviser who happens to be supremely prudent; in which case he may, indeed, be well advised; but not for long, since such an adviser will soon deprive him of his government.



   The Prince who rests wholly on Fortune is ruined when she changes. For if to one who conducts himself with caution and patience, time and circumstances are favorably disposed, so that his method of acting is good, he goes on prospering; but if these change, he is ruined, because he does not change his method of acting.



    Fortune is a woman who to be kept under must be beaten and roughly handled; and we see that she suffers herself to be more readily mastered by those that so treat her than by those who are more timid in their approaches. And, always, like a woman, she favors the young, because they are less scrupulous and fiercer, and command her with greater audacity.



   We see here the extraordinary and unexampled proofs of Divine favor. The sea has been divided; the cloud has attended you on your way; the rock has flowed with water; the manna has rained from heaven; everything has concurred to promote your greatness. What remains to be done must be done by you; since in order not to deprive us of our free will and such glory as belongs to us, God will not do everything himself!