THE PRINCE
by Nicolo Machiavelli
Translated by W. K. Marriott
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CHAPTER XXIII
How Flatterers Should Be Avoided
I DO NOT wish to leave out an
important branch of this subject, for it is a danger from which
princes are with difficulty preserved, unless they are very careful
and discriminating. It is that of flatterers, of whom courts arc
full, because men are so self-complacent in their own affairs, and
in a way so deceived in them, that they are preserved with
difficulty from this pest, and if they wish to defend themselves
they run the danger of falling into contempt. Because there is no
other way of guarding oneself from flatterers except letting men
understand that to tell you the truth does not offend you; but when
every one may tell you the truth, respect for you abates. (Note
1)
Therefore a wise prince ought to
hold a third course by choosing the wise men in his state, and
giving to them only the liberty of speaking the truth to him, and
then only of those things of which he inquires, and of none others;
but he ought to question them upon everything, and listen to their
opinions, and afterwards form his own conclusions. With these
councillors, separately and collectively, he ought to carry himself
in such a way that each of them should know that, the more freely he
shall speak, the more he shall be preferred; outside of these, he
should listen to no one, pursue the thing resolved on, and be
steadfast in his resolutions. He who does otherwise is either
overthrown by flatterers, or is so often changed by varying opinions
that he falls into contempt. (Note
2)
I wish on this subject to adduce a
modern example. Fra Luca, the man of affairs to Maximilian, the
present emperor, speaking of his majesty, said: He consulted with no
one, yet never got his own way in anything. This arose because of
his following a practice the opposite to the above; for the emperor
is a secretive man- he does not communicate his designs to any one,
nor does he receive opinions on them. But as in carrying them into
effect they become revealed and known, they are at once obstructed
by those men whom he has around him, and he, being pliant, is
diverted from them. Hence it follows that those things he does one
day he undoes the next, and no one ever understands what he wishes
or intends to do, and no one can rely on his resolutions.
A prince, therefore, ought always to
take counsel, but only when he wishes and not when others wish; he
ought rather to discourage every one from offering advice unless he
asks it; but, however, he ought to be a constant inquirer, and
afterwards a patient listener concerning the things of which he
inquired; also, on learning that any one, on any consideration, has
not told him the truth, he should let his anger be felt. (Note
3)
And if there are some who think that
a prince who conveys an impression of his wisdom is not so through
his own ability, but through the good advisers that he has around
him, beyond doubt they are deceived, because this is an axiom which
never fails: that a prince who is not wise himself will never take
good advice, unless by chance he has yielded his affairs entirely to
one person who happens to be a very prudent man. In this case indeed
he may be well governed, but it would not be for long, because such
a governor would in a short time take away his state from him. (Note
4)
But if a prince who is not
experienced should take counsel from more than one he will never get
united counsels, nor will he know how to unite them. Each of the
counsellors will think of his own interests, and the prince will not
know how to control them or to see through them. And they are not to
be found otherwise, because men will always prove untrue to you
unless they are kept honest by constraint. Therefore it must be
inferred that good counsels, whencesoever they come, are born of the
wisdom of the prince, and not the wisdom of the prince from good
counsels. (Note 5)
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