Machiavelli's Surprisingly not-so-boring Book

"The Prince," by Nicolo Machiavelli, is a detailed account on how a prince should conquer and rule a  principality. It receives criticism for its coldhearted, cut-and-dry nature, but it gives a pretty accurate description for how a prince should rule at that time. This time period, of course, was dominated by the Renaissance. So even the view of how to rule a territory was based on the values from this literary and artistic movement. Major lessons in this book include:

1. Great men desire what they don't have and have the courage to attain it, no matter the risk. One example of this is Moses. The Renaissance emphasizes individualism- that individuals have  enough power, achievement, and greatness to accomplish any goal.

2. War is the natural state of people- if it is natural for people to want what they don't have, war becomes inevitable.

3. In order to conquer and maintain control of a principality, either destroy their old laws, reside there in person to maintain control, or permit them to live under their own laws (which very rarely ever works). It is best to only trust yourself, and don't send any tribunes to do a prince's work (emphasis on individualism obvi).

4. A prince can come to power through fortune, crime, the favor of his citizens and nobles. But fortune can turn on you, crime will get you fame but never glory, and the nobles that elect you will expect special favors and perks from you. So basically, the only right way to do it is to conquer a principality and force everyone to listen to you.

5. As a prince, do not trust mercenaries because they are unreliable, but especially do not trust auxiliaries because they have no loyalty to you. Again, there is an emphasis on the individual, the prince, he should be his own army because he is a strong individual who don't need no men.

6. It is better to be feared than loved. If you show too much compassion, you will be considered as weak.  The Renaissance is all about personal strength and potential- no one who participated in this movement wanted to appear weak.

7. As a prince, beware of flattery- make sure your servants tell you their real opinions, but only to a certain extent. Your servants' world should revolve around you, or else you will have a Brutus on your hands.

So really, you only need to be reading this blog post if you plan on killing a lot of people and forcing them to fear you in order to get what you want. Thanks Machiavelli!