The Prince. Niccolò Machiavelli

or in which they see him take most delight; whence one

       often sees horses, arms, cloth of gold, precious stones, and

       similar ornaments presented to princes, worthy of their greatness.

       Desiring therefore to present myself to your Magnificence with

       some testimony of my devotion towards you, I have not found among

       my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so

       much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by

       long experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of

       antiquity; which, having reflected upon it with great and

       prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to

       your Magnificence.

       And although I may consider this work unworthy of your

       countenance, nevertheless I trust much to your benignity that it

       may be acceptable, seeing that it is not possible for me to make a

       better gift than to offer you the opportunity of understanding in

       the shortest time all that I have learnt in so many years, and

       with so many troubles and dangers; which work I have not

       embellished with swelling or magnificent words, nor stuffed with

       rounded periods, nor with any extrinsic allurements or adornments

       whatever, with which so many are accustomed to embellish their

       works; for I have wished either that no honour should be given it,

       or else that the truth of the matter and the weightiness of the

       theme shall make it acceptable.

       Nor do I hold with those who regard it as a presumption if a man

       of low and humble condition dare to discuss and settle the

       concerns of princes; because, just as those who draw landscapes

       place themselves below in the plain to contemplate the nature of

       the mountains and of lofty places, and in order to contemplate the

       plains place themselves upon high mountains, even so to understand

       the nature of the people it needs to be a prince, and to

       understand that of princes it needs to be of the people.

       Take then, your Magnificence, this little gift in the spirit in

       which I send it; wherein, if it be diligently read and considered

       by you, you will learn my extreme desire that you should attain

       that greatness which fortune and your other attributes promise.

       And if your Magnificence from the summit of your greatness will

       sometimes turn your eyes to these lower regions, you will see how

       unmeritedly I suffer a great and continued malignity of fortune.

      THE PRINCE

      CHAPTER I — HOW MANY KINDS OF PRINCIPALITIES THERE ARE, AND BY

      WHAT MEANS THEY ARE ACQUIRED

      All states, all powers, that have held and hold rule over men have been and are either republics or principalities.

      Principalities are either hereditary, in which the family has been long established; or they are new.

      The new are either entirely new, as was Milan to Francesco Sforza, or they are, as it were, members annexed to the hereditary state of the prince who has acquired them, as was the kingdom of Naples to that of the King of Spain.

      Such dominions thus acquired are either accustomed to live under a prince, or to live in freedom; and are acquired either by the arms of the prince himself, or of others, or else by fortune or by ability.

      CHAPTER II — CONCERNING

      HEREDITARY PRINCIPALITIES

      I will leave out all discussion on republics, inasmuch as in another place I have written of them at length, and will address myself only to principalities. In doing so I will keep to the order indicated above, and discuss how such principalities are to be ruled and preserved.

      I say at once there are fewer difficulties in holding hereditary states, and those long accustomed to the family of their prince, than new ones; for it is sufficient only not to transgress the customs of his ancestors, and to deal prudently with circumstances as they arise, for a prince of average powers to maintain himself in his state, unless he be deprived of it by some extraordinary and excessive force; and if he should be so deprived of it, whenever anything sinister happens to the usurper, he will regain it.

      We have in Italy, for example, the Duke of Ferrara, who could not have withstood the attacks of the Venetians in '84, nor those of Pope Julius in '10, unless he had been long established in his dominions. For the hereditary prince has less cause and less necessity to offend; hence it happens that he will be more loved; and unless extraordinary vices cause him to be hated, it is reasonable to expect that his subjects will be naturally well disposed towards him; and in the antiquity and duration of his rule the memories and motives that make for change are lost, for one change always leaves the toothing for another.