The Prince
by Nicolo Machiavelli
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.1
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.
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."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.
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, it 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.
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.
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
short-sighted 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 only 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 license 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.
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.
1 During the rioting between the
Cancellieri and Panciatichi factions in 1502 and 1503.
[back]
2 . . . against my will, my fate A
throne unsettled, and an infant state, Bid me defend my
realms with all my pow'rs, And guard with these severities
my shores.
-- Christopher Pitt. [back]
-
- The Prince
by Nicolo Machiavelli
Chapter XVI
<<< Contents
>>> Chapter
XVIII
|
