Niccolò Machiavelli

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**Niccolò Machiavelli** (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was a Florentine Renaissance man, statesman, and writer. He was a diplomat and government official in the Medici period of the Florentine Republic. Machiavelli is best known for writing about political philosophy. He also wrote poetry, plays, carnival songs, history books, military science books, and some of the best-known personal letters in the Italian language. His best known book is _The Prince_ from 1513. It was not published until 1532, which was five years after he died.

Many people use the word **Machiavellian** to mean "evil" because his ideas have been viewed by many as wicked. Many historians today still have debates on what he really thought. Nevertheless, Machiavelli is remembered for being an important realism theorist. Machiavelli's ideas are focused mostly on a unique understanding of virtue, statesmanship, and fortune ().

## Thoughts

There are many interpretations of his thoughts. Some examples of his thoughts were:
- Virtue doesn't always come from being morally good. A stable country or government also doesn't come from being morally good.
- Free will controls almost half of human life, and the rest is controlled by chance or fortune ().
- A leader needs useful leadership virtues rather than ordinary virtues. Ordinary virtues can often be wrong for leaders.
- Greatness and excellence are the best examples to follow.
- Being hated is always worse than just being feared.
- Founding new governments may require armed force.
- Religion is necessary for peoples and governments.
- Knowing when to be good and when to be bad is a virtue. A leader should only use cruelty when they have to. Trying to always be morally good in every situation usually ends badly.
- A leader should refrain from robbing men of their belongings, and he must not interfere with their women. Otherwise things will end badly for him.
- Leaders will not even listen to advice unless they are partly wise.
- In times of peace, it is best to prepare for upcoming war.
- Republics should be fierce in defending their freedoms.
- A prince must rely on his own arms, not someone else's.

## _The Prince_

_The Prince_ is a political book by Niccolò Machiavelli. He first shared the book privately in 1513. But it was not published until 1532. The book gives instructions for how a prince or ruler should conduct himself in politics.

Machiavelli is often seen as promoting the idea that a ruler should use any methods necessary to build and maintain power. This idea is often summarized by the saying "The ends justify the means," which some people associate with his work _The Prince_. Machiavelli suggests that rulers may need to use tricks, lies, and even violence to succeed. For example, a ruler might need to get rid of political opponents, control the population, and remove anyone who might try to take their place. In one part of _The Prince_, Machiavelli advises that a ruler should act like both a fox, to avoid traps, and a lion, to defeat enemies. This became one of his most famous ideas. Many people believe that Machiavelli’s main point in _The Prince_ is that gaining and keeping power sometimes requires actions that are considered wrong. Because of his advice, the word "Machiavellian" came to describe such political acts.

## Other books

- _The Discourses on Livy_ online 1772 edition
- _The Seven Books on the Art of War_ online 1772 edition
- _History of Florence_ online 1901 edition
- _Reform of Florence_ online 1772 edition
- _The Private Correspondence of Niccolò Machiavelli,_ ed. Orestes Ferrara; 1929. online edition
- Bilingual edition of _The Woman from Andros_, _The Mandrake_, and _Clizia_, edited by David Sices and James B. Atkinson.

## Other websites

- Biography of Niccolo Machiavelli-_Encyclopedia Britannica_.

## Infobox (philosopher)

- **embed**: yes
- **signature**: Machiavelli Signature.svg


## Infobox (infobox)

- **child**: yes
- **data1**: Realism theory


## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: Niccolò Machiavelli
- **image**: File:Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito.jpg
- **caption**: A portrait of Macchiavelli, by Santi di Tito
- **birth place**: Florence, Florence, Republic of Florence
- **death place**: Florence, Republic of Florence
- **genres**: Non-fiction, novellas, play (theatre), plays, poetry
- **subjects**: Classics, history, military science, philosophy, politics, royal family, royalty, virtue
- **period**: Italian Renaissance