“Of the Things for Which Men, and Especially Princes,
In the excerpt “Of the Things for Which Men, and
Especially Princes, are Praised and Blamed” taken from
The Prince, Machiavelli begins examining the
principles and manners a prince should follow in
relations with his friends, subjects and the people in
order to achieve and retain a good and secure overall
status. Princes and also men high in society are
known for their character and having a worthy standing
In the section of Liberality versus Niggardliness he
suggests that there is an impression of goodness given
when being generous and there is a not so good
impression when being prudent. Sometimes it appears
that the prince may be a miser when in fact he’s just
being prudent. In the end it’s better to have gone
the route of being miserly and frugal because the
prince is ultimately responsible for the well being of
his people. And, even though early on during his
reign he might have had the reputation of being a
miser, that will all change in time when his people
realize that he was looking out for their welfare.
Machiavelli then goes on to explain it’s better to
spend other peoples money than your own.
The next issue confronted is cruelty and clemency in
which Machiavelli illustrates that a prince must try
to be heeded as compassionate and must be willing to
be harsh at times when his country’s integrity and
fidelity are at stake. With this, a question arises
on whether or not it is better to be loved or feared.
The answer inevitability has to be where both fear and
love come together to form that happy medium. Thus, it
is almost impossible for the two to go hand in hand,
but being feared without a doubt is quite safer than
being loved. In addition, he continues to state that
a prince needs to be careful in the way he is feared,
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