Summary — Chapter XVIII: In What Way Princes Should
Keep Their Word
Machiavelli acknowledges that a prince who honors his
word is generally praised by others. But historical experience demonstrates that
princes achieve the most success when they are crafty, cunning, and
able to trick others. There are two ways of fighting: by law or
by force. Laws come naturally to men, force comes naturally to beasts. In
order to succeed, the prince must learn how to fight both with laws
and with force—he must become half man and half beast.
When a prince uses force, he acts like a beast. He must
learn to act like two types of beasts: lions and foxes. A fox is
defenseless against wolves; a lion is defenseless against traps.
A prince must learn to act like both the fox and the lion: he must
learn, like the fox, how to frighten off wolves and, like the lion,
how to recognize the traps. In dealing with people, a prince must
break his promises when they put him at a disadvantage and when
the reasons for which he made the promises no longer exist. In any
case, promises are never something on which a prince can rely, since
men are by nature wretched and deceitful. A prince should be a master
of deception.
However, a prince must be careful to exude a virtuous
aura that belies his deceitful mind. Pope Alexander VI was one ruler
who excelled at this art. A prince should present the appearance
of being a compassionate, trustworthy, kind, guileless, and pious
ruler. Of course, actually possessing all these virtues is neither
possible nor desirable. But so long as a prince appears to act virtuously,
most men will believe in his virtue. If the populace believes the
prince to be virtuous, it will be easier for him to maintain his
state. Moreover, men will judge their prince solely on appearance
and results. Thus, it doesn’t matter to the people that a prince
may occasionally employ evil to achieve his goal. So long as a prince
appears virtuous and is successful in running the state, he will
be regarded as virtuous.
Summary — Chapter XIX: The Need to Avoid Contempt
and Hatred
A prince must avoid being hated and despised at all costs.
A prince may be criticized for a lack of virtue, but he will never
be hated for it. However, a prince will be hated if he takes the
property or women of his subjects. A prince must also avoid robbing
his subjects of their honor. A prince will be despised if he has
a reputation for being fickle, frivolous, effeminate, cowardly,
or irresolute. If a prince is regarded highly by his subjects, he
will be shielded from conspiracies and open attacks.
A prince should worry about two things: internal insurrection from
his subjects and external threats from foreign powers. Defending
against foreign enemies requires a strong army and good allies. A
strong army always leads to good allies.
A prince can defend against internal insurrection by
making sure he is not hated or scorned by the people. This is a
powerful defense against conspiracies. A conspirator will have the
courage to proceed with his conspiracy only if he believes the people
will be satisfied when he kills the ruler. But if the people would
be outraged by the ruler’s death, the conspirators will never have
the gall to carry out the conspiracy. By default, conspiracies are
at a disadvantage. They require the support of many people, each
of whom faces severe punishment if the conspiracy is discovered.
Furthermore, each of these people can profit richly by informing
the prince about the conspiracy. A prince has on his side the entire
government, his allies and the laws of the state. If he secures
the goodwill of the people, he seems invulnerable in the eyes of
conspirators.
