THE PRINCE
by Nicolo Machiavelli
Translated by W. K. Marriott
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CHAPTER XVII
Concerning Cruelty And Clemency,
And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared
COMING now to the other qualities
mentioned above, I say that every prince ought to desire to be
considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless he ought to take care
not to misuse this clemency. Cesare Borgia was considered cruel;
notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romagna, unified it, and
restored it to peace and loyalty. And if this be rightly considered,
he will be seen to have been much more merciful than the Florentine
people, who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to
be destroyed. Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects
united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because
with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through
too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders
or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst
those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual
only. (Note 1)
And of all princes, it is impossible
for the new prince to avoid the imputation of cruelty, owing to new
states being full of dangers. Hence Virgil, through the mouth of
Dido, excuses the inhumanity of her reign owing to its being new,
saying:
Res dura, et regni novitas me talia cogunt
Moliri, et late fines custode tueri.
[english]
(Note
2)
Nevertheless he ought to be slow to
believe and to act, nor should he himself show fear, but proceed in
a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much
confidence may not make him incautious and too much distrust render
him intolerable. (Note
3)
Upon this a question arises: whether
it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be
answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is
difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared
than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with. Because
this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful,
fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they
are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life
and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but
when it approaches they turn against you. And that prince who,
relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions,
is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and
not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they
are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men
have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is
feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing
to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their
advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which
never fails. (Note
4)
Nevertheless a prince ought to
inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids
hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is
not hated, which will always be as long as he abstains from the
property of his citizens and subjects and from their women. But when
it is necessary for him to proceed against the life of someone, he
must do it on proper justification and for manifest cause, but above
all things he must keep his hands off the property of others,
because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the
loss of their patrimony. Besides, pretexts for taking away the
property are never wanting; for he who has once begun to live by
robbery will always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to
others; but reasons for taking life, on the contrary, are more
difficult to find and sooner lapse. But when a prince is with his
army, and has under control a multitude of soldiers, then it is
quite necessary for him to disregard the reputation of cruelty, for
without it he would never hold his army united or disposed to its
duties. (Note 5)
Among the wonderful deeds of
Hannibal this one is enumerated: that having led an enormous army,
composed of many various races of men, to fight in foreign lands, no
dissensions arose either among them or against the prince, whether
in his bad or in his good fortune. This arose from nothing else than
his inhuman cruelty, which, with his boundless valour, made him
revered and terrible in the sight of his soldiers, but without that
cruelty, his other virtues were not sufficient to produce this
effect. And shortsighted writers admire his deeds from one point of
view and from another condemn the principal cause of them. That it
is true his other virtues would not have been sufficient for him may
be proved by the case of Scipio, that most excellent man, not of his
own times but within the memory of man, against whom, nevertheless,
his army rebelled in Spain; this arose from nothing but his too
great forbearance, which gave his soldiers more licence than is
consistent with military discipline. For this he was upbraided in
the Senate by Fabius Maximus, and called the corrupter of the Roman
soldiery. The Locrians were laid waste by a legate of Scipio, yet
they were not avenged by him, nor was the insolence of the legate
punished, owing entirely to his easy nature. Insomuch that someone
in the Senate, wishing to excuse him, said there were many men who
knew much better how not to err than to correct the errors of
others. This disposition, if he had been continued in the command,
would have destroyed in time the fame and glory of Scipio; but, he
being under the control of the Senate, this injurious characteristic
not only concealed itself, but contributed to his glory. (Note
6)
Returning to the question of being
feared or loved, I come to the conclusion that, men loving according
to their own will and fearing according to that of the prince, a
wise prince should establish himself on that which is in his own
control and not in that of others; he must endeavour only to avoid
hatred, as is noted. (Note
7)
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