10 Tips From Machiavelli

hello and welcome to fire of learning Nicolo Machiavelli x' book the prince was published in 1532 five years after his death in this video we're going to take a look at 10 very noteworthy tips from that book as usual I will attempt to deliver these points without personal bias the book was written as a sort of advice guide for politicians specifically Kings at the time obviously this means taken literally isn't widely applicable as most of us aren't kings maybe you are I don't know but the advice is not applicable only for monarchs or even general politicians it can be translated and utilized for a number of professions and situations from business to social life to whatever so if that my let's get started number 10 is trust mercenaries and auxiliaries Machiavelli believe that having soldiers who weren't loyal or dependent on you was a disastrous error these types of soldiers were only interested in their own gain or had loyalties to someone else accordingly Machiavelli personally watched the Italian states who use these types of soldiers consistently failed and strongly suggest raiding troops of your own with a mutual goal for example the success of your kingdom number 9 you can't imitate great people exactly but you should try as much as possible essentially Machiavelli believed in learning from those who were successful in history in fact much of his advice is justified with examples all the way back to ancient civilizations within a given position according to Machiavelli you should attempt to imitate the habits of those who were successful however of course at times you will unavoidably have to think and act on your own and these circumstances Machiavelli advises it is best to not be reckless number 8 don't increase the power of rifles this seems obvious but it's mistake far too often made Machiavelli used the then recent failed invasion of Italy by the King of France as a consistent example throughout the book instead of assisting smaller States against a larger Italian nations he allied himself with the Pope and take on smaller nations the Pope took control of this and seized more power for himself establishing his state as a dominant in the region further the King of France made it even worse by allowing another rival into the region when Spain conquered Naples and Sicily number seven when conquering new people don't change too much well it certainly cured that according to Machiavelli one should take measures to ensure the loyalty of newly obtained subjects he claims that the wait to do this is to keep their laws taxes and such things mostly unchanged unless necessary he even recommends allowing them the formal local government for their interest so long as the government is not hostile but dependent on you number six without power opportunity is wasted without opportunity power is wasted Machiavelli believed leadership was a combination of power and opportunity and otherwise leader could find ways to both furthermore he warns against obtaining either with fortune reminding us that he who depends on fortune alone is ruined when portion changes depends upon yourself number five we live so far removed from how we ought to live that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done will destroy himself rather than prevail Machiavelli believed that morality goodness and kindness were all nice ideas but realistically one must do what they have to do to survive succeed and grow he cautions against trying to reform the system and encourages rather rising and succeeding in it as change can often be dangerous especially if it is forced if you must change something though do it with strength as armed profits conquer but unarmed ones fail number four support from Nobles and support from the people are two different areas in either group could ruin you the nobility looks to achieve their own interests namely by suppressing the people the people in turn are interested namely and not being suppressed the nobility may threaten you to achieve their own interest and the people will often revolt if they are too heavily repressed by you in which case the people are usually a better Ally to have for if you are hated by the people the nobility will easily remove you but if you are loved by the people the nobility will have a greater difficulty to throwning you number three one must master the art of acting in the most efficient way but looking as good of a person as possible Machiavelli says that a prince should attempt to look like someone who is merciful faithful respectable humane religious and generous but behind the curtain may have to act in the exact opposite way to achieve results as a times adherence to these values may not only be disastrous but it may come up as weakness in Machiavelli warns greatly against the ruler who looks timid frivolous effeminate changeable or irresolute the art of politics therefore in his opinion is mastering both the world's number two it is better to be feared than to be loved but if possible go for both Machiavelli recognizes the origins of being favored by his subjects but knows the too much leniency may invite trouble leniency based out of love for the people may suggest weakness it may provide opportunities for rivals it may decrease your power and therefore an element of fear is necessary in your ruling in treating others fails using strength and force nearly always succeeds in accordingly if you have to choose between being loved and feared it is better to go with being feared and the number one point from the prince is that the end justifies the means Machiavelli believed that to achieve efficient results Prince's sometimes have to play a little bit dirty playing dirty in fact playing very dirty is justifiable in his opinion as long as the end result is something favorable and good however he adds on to this that if you're going to commit an atrocity it's better to do it all in one day than to prolong it ie would be better to execute a hundred people in one day than to kill one person each day over a hundred days while each perhaps warrants the same results technically the former secures our position with fear and reassures rivals that you will act when cost the latter gives the impression that you rule over people theoretically enough further on security the people must oppose of you so these have been Machiavelli's top ten tips from his very famous book the prince it's certainly not his only advice though I would highly recommend reading the book and for more videos like this and videos on many other subjects I wouldn't wait to take out fire learning and subscribe thank you for watching

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 1,155,327

Keywords: Machiavelli, The Prince, 10 Tips, Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian Renaissance, Sforza, Medici

Id: PymCWSiG81E

Length: 5min 51sec (351 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 10 2017