Famous posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli...
Santi di Tito’s famous portrait of Niccolò Mach...
Niccolo Machiavelli 1 uTimeless literature often leaves lasting impressions on society years after it I written. Nowhere is this statement better proved than in The Prince, an awe-inspiring series of essays on monarchies written in the early sixteenth century by Niccolo Machiavelli. In this brilliant piece of literature, Machiavelli describes his ideas on how to seize and retain power. Written using many brilliant themes and ideas about politics, this book contains ideas and opinions derived from many specific events in history to support and prove the numerous arguments of Machiavelli as he describes his perfect ruler. The thoughts and opinions of great minds can be immortalized with a pen and paper to teach and inspire new generations of thought for centuries after centuries, and The Prince is a collection of Machiavelli's revolutionary thoughts and ideals. His motives played a strong role in the way he wrote the book, especially since pleasing his own prince was not sole purpose of The Prince. The content and Machiavelli's choice of words also make a strong statement to readers. As a result of the qualities, events, and instructions in The Prince, history has been unmistakably altered to follow Niccolo Machiavelli's piece on power politics.
"Those who wish to win favor with a prince customarily offer him those things which they hold most precious or which they see him most delight in...Wishing, then, to present myself to Your Highness with some mark of my duty to you, I have been unable to find anything that I possess that I hold so dear or esteem so highly as my knowledge of the actions of great men, learned from long experience in modern affairs and from constant reading of ancient ones." (Machiavelli 12). From this statement, one sees that Machiavelli wrote The Prince partly to...