Machiavelli

To Machiavelli your image and being feared were two important characteristics of being a leader. He believed that while you should be merciful, bold and courageous, religious, and so on, having all of these qualities would be physically impossible. Although as long as you appear to have these qualities, that is all that matters to the public. He also believes that when comparing being loved or feared by your public, feared should be chosen over the two since the public loves at their leisure, while they fear at the leaders leisure. I strongly believe in his views of human nature and leadership in almost all aspects.

Machiavelli’s military views are brilliant, a leader should constantly be vigilant concerning warfare. He states “He must, therefore, never raise his thought from the exercise of war, and in peacetime he must train himself more than in time of war...”(38). During peacetime the leader must learn all aspects of his surroundings. Every valley, swamp, and mountain must be explored to have this advantage in warfare. This leader must train his soldiers constantly, and train his own mind. I agree with Machiavelli in every aspect of his military views, especially that on a commander of the military could be a leader of his country because how can a man who has never been on the battlefield be expected to understand how he must take his men into war.

Generosity is another quality that must be used carefully, as Machiavelli states “...if a prince wants to maintain his reputation for generosity among men, it is necessary for him not to neglect any possible means of lavish display..”(41). Which means while he must be slightly generous he must be careful to avoid giving too much, or his public will begin to expect a lot. With that said this leader should never take too much as well, for his public shall never respect a man who takes from his people.

Leaders must keep their promises to the public as much as possible or the leader would be viewed as untrustworthy. Which will lead to being hated by the public which means the public may conspire against their leader. This is one of the two fears that a leader must always have.

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