From the creators of sparknotes.

Machiavelli prince quotes virtue. The prince quotes showing 1 30 of 518 everyone sees what you appear to be few experience what you really are niccolo machiavelli the prince. And it is of such virtue that not only does it maintain those who were born princes but many times makes men rise to that rank from private station. The concept of virtue in machiavellis the prince in the prince machiavellis concept of virtue departs from the conventional meaning associated with the word indicative of moral excellence.

Machiavelli sees these weaknesses as more aspects of human nature that a prince can and should exploit to his advantage. Machiavelli uses the italian word virtu which does not have an exact english equivalent. Purpose quality reality reputation revenge risk safety security soldiers son soul study success suffering understanding victory violence virtue war.

Like if an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. Contrary to typical morals a wise prince must often act in defiance of good faith of charity of kindness and of religion sometimes breaking his word or inflicting pain. A prince should appear to have all of the typical virtues such as mercy sincerity and especially religion.

In machiavellis opinion regarding virtue and vice a prince must hold himself to a different standard apart from the rest of society. He asserts that a prince cannot rely solely on the traditional understanding of virtues such as liberality mercy loyalty kindness honesty and piety. If you look for the initial cause of the collapse of the roman empire youll find it was when they started hiring goths as mercenaries.

The prince p61 cambridge university press. Here virtu means almost the same thing as the english virtue not surprisingly machiavelli is talking about pope leo x. Here machiavelli shows the flexibility towards definitions of virtue and vice that give him a reputation for amorality.

Whether he actually has those qualities wont be perceived by the majority. My aim in this text is to clarify why the term of virtue is one of the main subjects in machiavellis book the prince. Discover niccolo machiavelli famous and rare quotes.

Niccolo machiavelli the prince. A prince must not have any objective nor any thought nor take up any art other than the art of war and its ordering and discipline. Find the quotes you need in niccolo machiavellis the prince sortable by theme character or chapter.

Share niccolo machiavelli quotations about war politics and literature. As the word virtue is the main subject of our text we have to clarify the. Because it is the only art that pertains to him who commands.

Vice the masses and the elite quotes.