Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

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After Niccolò Machiavelli was suspected of conspiring in a plan to restore the republic, he was exiled back to his Father’s land in San Casciano, there he wrote The Prince. Although The Prince was not published until after Machiavelli’s death in 1527, he dedicated his newly written work to Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici (1492-1519), grandson of Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449-92) as a gift to regain favor with the Florentine ruler, and to once again work in a political office. After The Prince’s publication, The Prince was not well-received. It was believed to be an evil book, most likely because Machiavelli did the “immoral” and challenged rulers to value virtue not by morality but by overall effectiveness.
Machiavelli justified his carefully tailored …show more content…

Ambition lies among those who have achieved some power, but most common people are satisfied with the way things are and therefore do not yearn to improve on the status quo.
It is impossible for a prince to be perfect, so a ruler should only avoid vices that will bring the clear destruction of his state, or a fall from power. Machiavelli writes that "If a prince needs to indulge a vice to save his state, so be it.” Machiavelli does claim that it is better for a prince to be considered a miser than to spend money so carelessly. Instead, have the illusion of generosity.
Machiavelli made it clear that although Cesare Borgia may have lost his land and life due to “bad luck,” he was one of the greatest examples of a ruler. With flattering writing like "There was one man who showed glimpses of greatness, the kind of thing that made you think he was sent by God for the country's redemption" even though Borgia seemed to contradict the majority of Machiavelli’s past arguments. Machiavelli’s only criticism of Cesare Borgia was allowing Julius II to become Pope. Instead, Machiavelli claimed that Borgia should have chosen someone who, if not love, showed fear of him. Machiavelli even went as far as to say that Cesare Borgia would have succeeded in uniting all of Italy had he not fallen

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