the prince

Just finished this book yesterday. It was pretty short.

The Prince - Niccolò Machiavelli

A very interesting read. I find Machiavelli's view of humanity to be rather dark and bleak. Likely a product of the age in which he lived. An age that saw bad popes, many wars, and other things that could cause a man of perception to gain such an opinion. Not that any age would prove much better, but still..

Machiavelli lists various positive, and negative, virtues. Some positive virtues are bad to possess, some negative are ok. Some are situational, and so on. The picture painted for us is one of a "take what you can get", and "every man for himself".

Machiavelli tells us that it is good for a prince to appear to possess certain qualities, but that he should not embody them. He tells us that it is ok for a prince to give his word falsely, if it profits or strengthens his position. He tells us that a prince must never be truly generous, for generosity is a self defeating virtue (as we are generous, we decrease our ability to be generous--in monetary regard).

While much of the work takes this negative viewpoint of humanity, I can see why it resonates with so many. People in the business world seem especially fond of it. In practice, I envision much of the ruthless advice given does prove useful, for the attainment of power. I would debate the path to happiness though.

Perhaps after I have had more time to digest it, to let it flop around in my head a bit more, I will have something insightful or useful to say about it.