Quote:
The two principal types of governments:
monarchies and republics.
.... he proposes to describe the truth about surviving as a monarch, rather than recommending lofty moral ideals.
He describes those virtues which, on face value, we think a prince should possess. He concludes that some "virtues"
will lead to a prince's destruction,
whereas some "vices" allow him to survive.
Indeed, the virtues which we commonly praise in people might lead to his downfall. In chapter 16 he notes that we commonly think that it is best for a prince to have a reputation of being generous.
However,
if his generosity is done in secret, no one will know about it and he will be thought to be greedy.
If it is done openly, then he risks going broke to maintain his reputation.
He will then extort more money from his subjects and thus be hated.
For Machiavelli, it is best for a prince to have a reputation for being stingy. Machiavelli anticipates examples one might give of generous monarchs who have been successful.
He concludes that generosity should only be shown to soldiers with goods taken from a pillaged enemy city.
In Chapter 17 he argues that it is better for a prince to be severe when punishing people rather than merciful.
Severity through death sentences affects only a few, but it deters crimes which affects many.
Further, he argues, it is better to be feared than to be loved.
However, the prince should avoid being hated, which he can easily accomplish by not confiscating the property of his subjects: "people more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their inheritance."
the prince should know how to be deceitful when it suits his purpose.
When the prince needs to be deceitful, though, he must not appear that way.
Indeed he must always exhibit five virtues in particular:
mercy,
honesty,
humaneness,
uprightness,
and religiousness.
the prince must avoid doing things which will cause him to be hated.
This is accomplished by not confiscating property,
and not appearing greedy
or wishy-washy. I
n fact, the best way to avoid being overthrown is to avoid being hated.