Machiavelli's The Prince: Views Of A Leader
In The Prince, Machiavelli offers his views on how a leader should rule his country based upon his past analysis of history. This advice was designed to help keep a ruler in power. Machiavelli had a very pessimistic, cruel, deceitful, and hypocritical view of how one should govern the world for he believed that it was the only way to govern men as they are. In Chapter XVII we can see clearly Machiavelli's exceedingly pessimistic view of man: he says "that they are ungrateful, fickle, dissembling, anxious to flee in danger and covetous of gain" (Prince 60). If Machiavelli were to advise President Clinton about lying under oath, he would probably say that President Clinton is hardly ...
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actions. If the public does not respect a ruler's actions, then he will have a hard time ruling his people and making him more susceptible to conspiracies against him.
Machiavelli would be disappointed in Clinton because he got caught for lying. Since Clinton was caught lying, it gave him a bad public image and he lost much of his integrity. Machiavelli would remind Clinton that "a prince must take care never to utter a word that is not implicit with the five above-mentioned qualities; and he must never appear to be anything but the very soul of clemency, faithfulness, frankness, humanity, and religion to all those who see and hear him" (Prince 63). It is not necessary for the Prince to be merciful, humane, kind, and faithful, although it may be necessary to appear to have these qualities. People will see the surface of your actions, and not understand or care to understand what lies below them, therefore it is important to keep a good image.
Machiavelli would also point out ...
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"Machiavelli's The Prince: Views Of A Leader." Essayworld.com. December 4, 2005. Accessed March 26, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Machiavellis-The-Prince-Views-Of-Leader/37479.
"Machiavelli's The Prince: Views Of A Leader." Essayworld.com. December 4, 2005. Accessed March 26, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Machiavellis-The-Prince-Views-Of-Leader/37479.
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