THE PRINCE
by Nicolo Machiavelli
Translated by W. K. Marriott
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CHAPTER XVI
Concerning Liberality And Meanness
COMMENCING then with the first of
the above-named characteristics, I say that it would be well to be
reputed liberal. Nevertheless, liberality exercised in a way that
does not bring you the reputation for it, injures you; for if one
exercises it honestly and as it should be exercised, it may not
become known, and you will not avoid the reproach of its opposite.
Therefore, any one wishing to maintain among men the name of liberal
is obliged to avoid no attribute of magnificence; so that a prince
thus inclined will consume in such acts all his property, and will
be compelled in the end, if he wish to maintain the name of liberal,
to unduly weigh down his people, and tax them, and do everything he
can to get money. This will soon make him odious to his subjects,
and becoming poor he will be little valued by any one; thus, with
his liberality, having offended many and rewarded few, he is
affected by the very first trouble and imperilled by whatever may be
the first danger; recognizing this himself, and wishing to draw back
from it, he runs at once into the reproach of being miserly. (Note
1)
Therefore, a prince, not being able
to exercise this virtue of liberality in such a way that it is
recognized, except to his cost, if he is wise he ought not to fear
the reputation of being mean, for in time he will come to be more
considered than if liberal, seeing that with his economy his
revenues are enough, that he can defend himself against all attacks,
and is able to engage in enterprises without burdening his people;
thus it comes to pass that he exercises liberality towards all from
whom he does not take, who are numberless, and meanness towards
those to whom he does not give, who are few. (Note
2)
We have not seen great things done
in our time except by those who have been considered mean; the rest
have failed. Pope Julius the Second was assisted in reaching the
papacy by a reputation for liberality, yet he did not strive
afterwards to keep it up, when he made war on the King of France;
and he made many wars without imposing any extraordinary tax on his
subjects, for he supplied his additional expenses out of his long
thriftiness. The present King of Spain would not have undertaken or
conquered in so many enterprises if he had been reputed liberal. A
prince, therefore, provided that he has not to rob his subjects,
that he can defend himself, that he does not become poor and abject,
that he is not forced to become rapacious, ought to hold of little
account a reputation for being mean, for it is one of those vices
which will enable him to govern. (Note
3)
And if any one should say: Caesar
obtained empire by liberality, and many others have reached the
highest positions by having been liberal, and by being considered
so, I answer: Either you are a prince in fact, or in a way to become
one. In the first case this liberality is dangerous, in the second
it is very necessary to be considered liberal; and Caesar was one of
those who wished to become pre-eminent in Rome; but if he had
survived after becoming so, and had not moderated his expenses, he
would have destroyed his government. And if any one should reply:
Many have been princes, and have done great things with armies, who
have been considered very liberal, I reply: Either a prince spends
that which is his own or his subjects' or else that of others. In
the first case he ought to be sparing, in the second he ought not to
neglect any opportunity for liberality. And to the price who goes
forth with his army, supporting it by pillage, sack, and extortion,
handling that which belongs to others, this liberality is necessary,
otherwise he would not be followed by soldiers. And of that which is
neither yours nor your subjects' you can be a ready giver, as were
Cyrus, Caesar, and Alexander; because it does not take away your
reputation if you squander that of others, but adds to it; it is
only squandering your own that injures you. (Note
4)
And there is nothing wastes so
rapidly as liberality, for even whilst you exercise it you lose the
power to do so, and so become either poor or despised, or else, in
avoiding poverty, rapacious and hated. And a prince should guard
himself, above all things, against being despised and hated; and
liberality leads you to both. Therefore it is wiser to have a
reputation for meanness which brings reproach without hatred, than
to be compelled through seeking a reputation for liberality to incur
a name for rapacity which begets reproach with hatred.
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