Machiavellis The Prince
... He desperately wanted to get back into politics, so he wrote The Prince and dedicated it to Lorenzo de Medici, who was then the governor of Florence. ... Machiavelli’s The Prince has been widely oversimplified and misunderstood. ... In The Prince he writes the story of Cesare’s life to illustrate how and why he was successful. ... " Thus the point of Cesare’s story is that in order for a prince to ultimately succeed, he needs both ability and fortune, and needs to be feared rather than loved. ... Machiavelli’s advice throughout The Prince is practical and straightforward. ... Machiavelli says that this is the most important art a prince can learn. ... a prince must not have any objective nor any thought, nor take up any art, other than the art of war and its ordering and discipline. ... A prince who gains the state by his own power, strength and courage should be greatly respected. A prince who is loved and respected on his own virtue will have no need of fortresses, for the people will protect him. Overall, Machiavelli’s The Prince is a simple, well thought out guide to being a ruler in the Renaissance period. ... Most people would have particular problems with the idea that a prince can be deceitful if they are still a good ruler. ... However, if more people took an interest in what’s actually going on in the world, and what Machiavelli’s political principals actually were, they would see that behind the “deceptive” and “manipulative” tones in The Prince, Machiavelli shows strong republican themes of patriotism, civic virtue, and open political participation.