CHAPTER XIII.: the good prince.

1. The good prince, by his rare and virtuous example, produces in the government as it were the same effect as the laws and regulations. For the real virtues of a prince have so much influence that the good men desire to imitate him, and the bad ones are ashamed to follow a different course of life.

2. The eminent qualities of the prince make him feared and beloved by his subjects, and most highly esteemed by other princes; and thus he leaves to his descendants authority founded upon a broad basis.

3. It is often seen that, when two princes of great virtue succeed each other, they achieve the greatest results, so that their fame rises to heaven. David doubtless excelled in war, in knowledge, and in judgment; and so great was his valor that, after having vanquished and humbled his neighbors, he left to his son Solomon a tranquil kingdom, which he could preserve and embellish with the arts of peace and war, and thus could enjoy happily the benefits of his father’s virtues.

4. The successive reign of two valorous princes is sufficient, so to say, to conquer the whole world.

5. Nothing causes a prince to be more esteemed than when he renders himself famous by some act or wise saying, consistent with the public good, and which shows the prince to be magnanimous, liberal, and just, and which becomes familiar as a proverb amongst all his subjects.

6. A prince should aim to have the obedience and affection of his subjects. He obtains their obedience by being himself a strict observer of the law, and by having the reputation of being brave. And he wins their affection by affability, humanity, and benevolence.

7. It is much easier for a good and wise prince to be beloved by the good than by the bad, and to obey the laws rather than to wish to control them. And to know how to arrive at this, he need undergo no other trouble than to copy like a mirror the lives of good princes, such as Timoleon of Corinth, Arato of Sicyon, and others like them. In their lives he will find such security and such satisfaction, for him who rules as well as for those who are ruled, that it ought to excite the desire to imitate them, which is easily done. For when men are well governed they neither seek nor wish for any other liberty.

8. To be humane, affable, show no sign of cruelty, pride, sensuality, nor any other vice that taints men’s lives, will bring a prince honors, victories, and renown.

9. A wise and virtuous prince, to preserve his own character, and not to give his sons cause for becoming bad, will never build fortresses; so that his sons may not attempt to found their reliance upon such fortresses, but upon the good will and affection of his subjects.

10. A prince should receive his subjects with so much affability that no one, after having spoken to him, should go away dissatisfied.

11. A prince should occasionally meet his citizens in their assemblies, and give them proof of his affability and magnificence. He should, however, always preserve the majesty of his office, which will not bear to be disregarded even in the slightest degree.

12. In principalities that have proper institutions absolute authority is never given to any one except in the army, for there only is an immediate decision often necessary, requiring absolute authority in one man. In all other matters the wise and good prince can do nothing without his council.

13. A prince should shun flatterers as he does the pest; and to defend himself from them he must choose wise men as counsellors, and give them full power to tell him the truth.

14. A prince should be an extensive questioner, and a patient listener to the truth touching the things he has asked about; and if he finds that any one does not tell him the truth from fear, then he should manifest his displeasure in consequence.

15. Good counsels, no matter whence they come, should be the result of the prudence of the prince, but the prudence of the prince should not spring from good counsels.

16. The counsels of a head blanched with age and full of experience are the wisest and most useful.

17. A prince will derive great glory from having been the founder of his principality; bestowing honor upon it, and strengthening it by good laws, good allies, and good examples.

18. A prince should be agreeable to his allies, feared by his enemies, just towards his subjects, and loyal in his dealings with foreigners.

19. A prince should aim to keep his city abundantly supplied, his people united, and the nobility honored.

20. In bestowing offices and honors the prince should seek for merit wherever it is to be found, regardless of birth.

21. The practices, similar to those of the ancients, which a good prince should introduce in his state are, to honor and reward virtue, not to contemn poverty, to respect the regulations of military discipline, to constrain the citizens to love each other, to live without factions, to respect private interests less than public ones, and other similar things.

22. Every one knows how laudable it is in a prince to keep his pledges, to live with integrity, and not with craft and deceit.

23. The public faith pledged by a prince to his subjects should be inviolably observed.

24. The good prince knows not and never will give occasion for any subject of scandal; for he is a lover of peace and of justice.

25. It is the duty of the prince to turn offenders from the road of sin, and to bring them back to the right road.

26. Calumnies are detestable in every kind of government, and to restrain them the prince should not hesitate to pass any regulations that will effect it.

27. The good and wise prince should be a lover and protector of men of letters.

28. He should open public schools under the direction of the most distinguished men, so that the youth may apply themselves to the study of letters.

29. He should love all those who excel in any one art.

30. The prince must take care that his people never lack the means of subsistence.

31. He must fix honest and just prices for the provisions, and above all he must see that the poor have their due and are not defrauded.