The controversial Niccolo Machiavelli guides us to be a successful ruler in his novel, The Prince. Machiavelli explains the best ways for a prince or any ruler to rule a territory, prosper the society, and maintain their position. The book was intentionally just for Prince Lorenzo The Magnificent, a ruling member of the Medici family, but today, anyone can read this book to get some pointers on political issues. Because Machiavelli had ideas that were referable to evil and brutality, he raised a lot of eyebrows, and was called the devil by many. He believes that the ruler*s main focuses should be conquering, remaining in control of the people, and to always keep war in mind. It was very easy to understand him with his simple logic and I like his ideas, despite a few disagreements I had on his solutions to some problems. Some of his specific ideas were to be better off feared than loved by the people, to not be neutral, and to shun flattery.
Famous posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli...
Niccolo Machiavelli 1
English: Former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein,...In Chapter 17, Machiavelli states it clearly that being feared by the people is safer then
being loved by them. He explains that every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel, but should not misuse the mercifulness, or he would be taken advantage of. Those who inject a little cruelty now and then, will keep his subjects united and faithful, as they are afraid to disobey him in the sense that they will be punish severely. If the prince was to be merciful to all, though loved, he would cause disorders to arise, that would affect the whole society, instead of only the few that his cruelty has affected upon. A prince must not also be feared to a point of great hatred, because it leaves a door...