Niccoló Machiavelli
The Essay.
The Renaissance was a time when art and education became very popular. People had stopped believing in the church after the Black Plague had passed. The church had promised that it would stop, even though it didn’t. Some of the most famous people during that period were writers like Shakespeare, or artists like Leonardo Da Vinci. Except, they weren’t the ones that influenced power on people the way one man did.
541 years ago, a young writer, born in Florence, Italy, didn’t know he would become one of the world’s most famous authors in history. He wasn’t only an author, but had a career as an Italian statesman. Wealth wasn’t something his family had and only started school at the age of seven. People have said he loved to read books. His most famous book he had written was, “The Prince”. This man wasn’t a normal writer during the Renaissance; he had his own political philosophy that people needed to learn.
Machiavelli believed that power was very big and important thing. He showed it in his books that he wrote. One of them was called, “The Prince”. You may ask, how was he was important during the Renaissance? Well, he influenced many people with his writing. The book talks about how the government actually worked and not what people were told or believed. Also, from that book, many quotes had been used and had become popular. One of his famous quotes, “ It is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.” This quote is directed to leaders. It means, if you are feared, people are willing to do anything for you, but if your loved, people will know you’ll respect them or forgive them, if they make any mistakes. That’s why he says its better to be feared so that people will listen more. He also had other work that he had written. One of them was another book that explains that the church was a bad example. This man is known to be evil and disloyal, but he only spoke the truth. Now his name, Machiavelli, means evil.
Machiavelli was known to be many things. Mostly because back then you could be anything you wanted, but these are jobs Machiavelli actually did. He was a banker, diplomat, humanist and the career that made him famous, being a writer. His first career was being a banker, and a diplomat. He worked as a diplomat for the Medici’s, where he began to understand how the government worked, and the actual facts. Not what people were told. During his process, and I believe continuing until his death, Machiavelli was also a humanist. You may ask what a humanist is? Well, that’s when you study people and their reasons. People, who study them, gain inspiration from humans. (What is a humanist?) Machiavelli’s writing was based on the on his point of view of human nature from a historical event or setting. (Textbook) Therefore, being a humanist really helped write his book “The Prince”. It explained things like how he wanted a government to work, and what kind of leader he wanted to rule. Without studying humans, you are not capable of knowing what they can do. People have said Machiavelli used to be a banker, but the facts aren’t exactly sure. He had two books, “The Prince” and “The Discourses on Livy”. Machiavelli was known to be a political writer, he wrote about the government and how it worked. He explained all his thoughts, and actual information in his book called, “The Prince”. It tells us about how the government actually worked, and not how people believed it worked or what they were told. His other book, “The Discourses of Livy” is about him explaining to people, if they wanted a republic to survive, it needed a spirit of loving your country and being able to communicate among its citizens. (Lucidcafé: Library, Niccoló Machiavelli). Now, because Machiavelli was a writer, many quotes of the two books have inspired people and are used for political leaders.
From his writing, Machiavelli has inspired many people today. Little quotes from his book “The Prince” has been used, that’s why his book is so famous. One of the most famous one is, “Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.” (Niccoló Machiavelli) You might need to read it a couple times, but if you take your time, you can see the meaning. To me it means that if you are a leader, you should pick fear, instead of love since if you are loved, people would take advantage of that. Except if you’re feared, people will do the work for you, and do what it takes. Most of them are about how you should rule a country. Machiavelli’s book was about how he believed a government should have worked, that’s why most of his quotes are about leadership. Individual leadership. “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” (Niccoló Machiavelli) Why are Machiavelli’s quotes so important? They’re important because since his theories were so big and manipulative, they took out smaller parts of it. The quotes can summarize some of his theories. For example: Machiavelli is known to be one of the most important and influential thinkers in world history. “When men are well governed, they neither seek nor desire any other liberty.”- Niccoló Machiavelli, The Discourses. 1517. (Machiavelli - Quotes Justify the Man) His books were where Machiavelli wrote all his theories and quotes. Next, I’m going to talk about what they were about and their reasons of being written by a man like Machiavelli.
What were the purposes of his books? They each had a reason to be written. Except they both also had their differences and similarities. First of all, why did Niccoló Machiavelli write his book “The Prince”? It was written because Machiavelli loved ancient history and he wanted to rebuild a government that was similar to the Roman Republic. He was looking for a powerful political and military leader that could bring northern Italy together and releasing it from the French and Spanish influence. While writing the Prince, Machiavelli wanted to show that. Now, why did he write his book “The Discourses on Livy”? The book was based on his humanist education. However, it was also about the republic. Machiavelli had a lot to write about how he believed the republics should have worked. The book was divided into three themes: the first theme talks about the internal structure of the republic, then it talks about the matters of warfare, and lastly, he brings back the theme of “The Prince”, which is individual leadership. Now, both these books were written about different topics, but wanted the same meaning brought out to people. They both have to do with politics. “The Discourses on Livy” is about how the republics should work, while “The Prince” is about how the government should work. The reason he wrote “The Prince” was because Florence wasn’t very stable, which caused him to be interested in how states are managed.
The three main points you should remember about Machiavelli is his jobs, quotes and the two books he has written. Many people may not like Machiavelli, but he has made a difference in the political world. He has told people to not trust anyone. This also has to do with him being a humanist. When he studied people, he realized what they were capable of. He believed that it is better to be disliked than loved. Because he believed that, we will know that he didn’t care what people thought about him. Just as long as he got what he asked for.
541 years ago, a young writer, born in Florence, Italy, didn’t know he would become one of the world’s most famous authors in history. He wasn’t only an author, but had a career as an Italian statesman. Wealth wasn’t something his family had and only started school at the age of seven. People have said he loved to read books. His most famous book he had written was, “The Prince”. This man wasn’t a normal writer during the Renaissance; he had his own political philosophy that people needed to learn.
Machiavelli believed that power was very big and important thing. He showed it in his books that he wrote. One of them was called, “The Prince”. You may ask, how was he was important during the Renaissance? Well, he influenced many people with his writing. The book talks about how the government actually worked and not what people were told or believed. Also, from that book, many quotes had been used and had become popular. One of his famous quotes, “ It is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.” This quote is directed to leaders. It means, if you are feared, people are willing to do anything for you, but if your loved, people will know you’ll respect them or forgive them, if they make any mistakes. That’s why he says its better to be feared so that people will listen more. He also had other work that he had written. One of them was another book that explains that the church was a bad example. This man is known to be evil and disloyal, but he only spoke the truth. Now his name, Machiavelli, means evil.
Machiavelli was known to be many things. Mostly because back then you could be anything you wanted, but these are jobs Machiavelli actually did. He was a banker, diplomat, humanist and the career that made him famous, being a writer. His first career was being a banker, and a diplomat. He worked as a diplomat for the Medici’s, where he began to understand how the government worked, and the actual facts. Not what people were told. During his process, and I believe continuing until his death, Machiavelli was also a humanist. You may ask what a humanist is? Well, that’s when you study people and their reasons. People, who study them, gain inspiration from humans. (What is a humanist?) Machiavelli’s writing was based on the on his point of view of human nature from a historical event or setting. (Textbook) Therefore, being a humanist really helped write his book “The Prince”. It explained things like how he wanted a government to work, and what kind of leader he wanted to rule. Without studying humans, you are not capable of knowing what they can do. People have said Machiavelli used to be a banker, but the facts aren’t exactly sure. He had two books, “The Prince” and “The Discourses on Livy”. Machiavelli was known to be a political writer, he wrote about the government and how it worked. He explained all his thoughts, and actual information in his book called, “The Prince”. It tells us about how the government actually worked, and not how people believed it worked or what they were told. His other book, “The Discourses of Livy” is about him explaining to people, if they wanted a republic to survive, it needed a spirit of loving your country and being able to communicate among its citizens. (Lucidcafé: Library, Niccoló Machiavelli). Now, because Machiavelli was a writer, many quotes of the two books have inspired people and are used for political leaders.
From his writing, Machiavelli has inspired many people today. Little quotes from his book “The Prince” has been used, that’s why his book is so famous. One of the most famous one is, “Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.” (Niccoló Machiavelli) You might need to read it a couple times, but if you take your time, you can see the meaning. To me it means that if you are a leader, you should pick fear, instead of love since if you are loved, people would take advantage of that. Except if you’re feared, people will do the work for you, and do what it takes. Most of them are about how you should rule a country. Machiavelli’s book was about how he believed a government should have worked, that’s why most of his quotes are about leadership. Individual leadership. “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” (Niccoló Machiavelli) Why are Machiavelli’s quotes so important? They’re important because since his theories were so big and manipulative, they took out smaller parts of it. The quotes can summarize some of his theories. For example: Machiavelli is known to be one of the most important and influential thinkers in world history. “When men are well governed, they neither seek nor desire any other liberty.”- Niccoló Machiavelli, The Discourses. 1517. (Machiavelli - Quotes Justify the Man) His books were where Machiavelli wrote all his theories and quotes. Next, I’m going to talk about what they were about and their reasons of being written by a man like Machiavelli.
What were the purposes of his books? They each had a reason to be written. Except they both also had their differences and similarities. First of all, why did Niccoló Machiavelli write his book “The Prince”? It was written because Machiavelli loved ancient history and he wanted to rebuild a government that was similar to the Roman Republic. He was looking for a powerful political and military leader that could bring northern Italy together and releasing it from the French and Spanish influence. While writing the Prince, Machiavelli wanted to show that. Now, why did he write his book “The Discourses on Livy”? The book was based on his humanist education. However, it was also about the republic. Machiavelli had a lot to write about how he believed the republics should have worked. The book was divided into three themes: the first theme talks about the internal structure of the republic, then it talks about the matters of warfare, and lastly, he brings back the theme of “The Prince”, which is individual leadership. Now, both these books were written about different topics, but wanted the same meaning brought out to people. They both have to do with politics. “The Discourses on Livy” is about how the republics should work, while “The Prince” is about how the government should work. The reason he wrote “The Prince” was because Florence wasn’t very stable, which caused him to be interested in how states are managed.
The three main points you should remember about Machiavelli is his jobs, quotes and the two books he has written. Many people may not like Machiavelli, but he has made a difference in the political world. He has told people to not trust anyone. This also has to do with him being a humanist. When he studied people, he realized what they were capable of. He believed that it is better to be disliked than loved. Because he believed that, we will know that he didn’t care what people thought about him. Just as long as he got what he asked for.
This is Machiavelli.
