Summary of the morals of the prince by niccolo machiavelli
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Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Morals of the Prince"
In "The Morals of the Prince" Niccolo Machiavelli says that a prince must balance good and evil. He must seem good to his subjects but he must also balance that with some evil. For if he is not feared then that is just as bad as being cruel. A Prince must be able to know when to use his good qualities and when to use his bad qualities. The balance of these is critical to his keeping power over the land.
Machiavelli starts by describing why men are praised or blamed. He says that some are called stingy and others are generous. A prince should have all of the good qualities but Machiavelli says that this is impossible. He says that a "prince should be shrewd enough not to be disgraced by the vices that would lose him his state, but he should also guard against the ones that would not lose him his state". (324) Machiavelli says that a Prince should also not worry about any vices that without he would lose his state...