The Art of Power
The End Justifies the Means
Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.
— Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli was a revolutionary and visionary of his time. While others were writing how government should be, Machiavelli wrote about how government actually was. He shredded the idea of virtuous, noble leadership and described the cutthroat reality of statecraft. He was an exiled statesman who told the truth about those in power.
Everyone around will envy you if you tell the truth... The truth which is profitable.
— Machiavelli
In 1513, after Niccolo Machiavelli was expelled with the takeover of Florence by the Medici Family, Machiavelli wrote the book The Prince.
The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore, if a prince wants to maintain his rule he must be prepared not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to need.
— Machiavelli
The Art of Power
Machiavelli's magnum-opus The Prince has been the cold-blooded blueprint for many a leader and dictator.
Machiavelli emphasized the "necessity" for the methodical exercise of brute force or deceit, including extermination of entire noble families, to head off any chance of a challenge to the prince's authority. Under this governance, political rivals may be eliminated by force. Resistant populations could be destroyed. Communities would be purged of their men who were strong enough of character to rule. Anyone who could inevitably attempt to replace the current rule would be subverted through fraud, deceit, and lies. Violence would also be used in order to stabilize the current rule and political regime.
The Art of Power is the art of control. How that control is exerted doesn't matter. Whether it breaks social norms, all ethical boundaries, or destroys all sense of morality is irrelevant. The end justifies the means. Power must be maintained by any and all means deemed necessary even if those means are brutal, cruel, or calculating.
It is better to act and repent than not to act and regret.
—Machiavelli
The Art of Fortune
Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.
— Machiavelli
Fortune isn't created by luck but by action. Cunning, charisma, and the imposition of one's own will are the tools of creating one's future. There was no such thing as luck. Those who relied on it would lead their people to their own destruction.
Men will not look at things as they really are but as they wish them to be — and are ruined.
— Machiavelli
This is an idea that would be later echoed in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Howard Roark is talking to the Dean of his school as he is getting kicked out. This is the conversation they have.
[Dean] “My dear fellow, who will let you?”
[Roark] “That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?"
There is more being asked than a simple question here.
The first question is this. Who could possibly stop me? Who was capable of such a thing? That power is mine to give away and mine alone. I don't need anyone's permission to live my life. In Ayn Rand's world, fate and fortune are the products of uncompromising integrity and utter independence. In Niccolo Machiavelli's experience, the uncompromising integrity is only towards one's goals. How that is carried out is another matter altogether as long as the goal is met.
The second question is whose name would be on that list to try and stop me? In Ayn Rand's story, one need only to walk away and divorce oneself from the situation. In Niccolo Machiavelli, opposition would need to be dealt with, brutally and harshly. Examples would need to be made. Fear would be instilled to stop any future actions.
Men should be either treated generously or destroyed because they take revenge for slight injuries — for heavy ones they cannot; if an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
— Machiavelli
The Art of War
The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves — one must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.
— Machiavelli
Everyone has heard about Sun Tzu's Art of War. But did you know that Niccolo Machiavelli also wrote a book titled The Art of War?
There is no avoiding war, it can only be postponed to the advantage of your enemy.
— Machiavelli
Where Sun Tzu focuses on the practical application of eastern philosophy and conquering the battle within, Niccolo Machiavelli took a different more external and western approach. He focused on the practical application of tactics. And there is a distinct difference between the two.
He covers topics such as:
On concealing one’s plans
On finding out the enemy’s plans
On determining the character of the war
On leading an army through places infested by the enemy
On escaping from difficult situations
On laying and meeting ambushes while on the march
How to conceal the absence of the things we lack, or to supply substitutes for them
On distracting the attention of the enemy
On quelling a mutiny of soldiers
How to check an unseasonable demand for battle
How to arouse an army’s enthusiasm for battle
On dispelling the fears inspired in soldiers by adverse omens
On choosing the time for battle
On choosing the place for battle
On the disposition of troops for battle
On creating panic in the enemy’s ranks
On ambushes
On letting the enemy escape, lest, brought to bay, he renew the battle in desperation
On concealing reverses
On restoring morale by firmness
On bringing the war to a close after a successful engagement
On repairing one’s losses after a reverse
On ensuring the loyalty of those whom one mistrusts
What to do for the defense of the camp, in case a commander lacks confidence in his present forces
On retreating
On surprise attacks
On deceiving the besieged
On inducing treachery
... and so on.
Machiavelli wrote many volumes on the Art of War. In Book Seven, Machiavelli’s offers 27 “general rules” of war, which are listed here:
What benefits the enemy, harms you; and what benefits you, harm the enemy.
Whoever is more vigilant in observing the designs of the enemy in war, and endures much hardship in training his army, will incur fewer dangers, and can have greater hope for victory.
Never lead your soldiers into an engagement unless you are assured of their courage, know they are without fear, and are organized, and never make an attempt unless you see they hope for victory.
It is better to defeat the enemy by hunger than with steel; in such victory fortune counts more than virtu.
No proceeding is better than that which you have concealed from the enemy until the time you have executed it.
To know how to recognize an opportunity in war, and take it, benefits you more than anything else.
Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many.
Discipline in war counts more than fury.
If some on the side of the enemy desert to come to your service, if they be loyal, they will always make you a great acquisition; for the forces of the adversary diminish more with the loss of those who flee, than with those who are killed, even though the name of the fugitives is suspect to the new friends, and odious to the old.
It is better in organizing an engagement to reserve great aid behind the front line, than to spread out your soldiers to make a greater front.
He is overcome with difficulty, who knows how to recognize his forces and those of the enemy.
The virtu of the soldiers is worth more than a multitude, and the site is often of more benefit than virtu.
New and speedy things frighten armies, while the customary and slow things are esteemed little by them: you will therefore make your army experienced, and learn (the strength) of a new enemy by skirmishes, before you come to an engagement with him.
Whoever pursues a routed enemy in a disorganized manner, does nothing but become vanquished from having been a victor.
Whoever does not make provisions necessary to live (eat), is overcome without steel.
Whoever trusts more in cavalry than in infantry, or more in infantry than in cavalry, must settle for the location.
If you want to see whether any spy has come into the camp during the day, have no one go to his quarters.
Change your proceeding when you become aware that the enemy has foreseen it.
Counsel with many on the things you ought to do, and confer with few on what you do afterwards.
When soldiers are confined to their quarters, they are kept there by fear or punishment; then when they are led by war, (they are led) by hope and reward.
Good Captains never come to an engagement unless necessity compels them, or the opportunity calls them.
Act so your enemies do not know how you want to organize your army for battle, and in whatever way you organize them, arrange it so that the first line can be received by the second and by the third.
In a battle, never use a company for some other purpose than what you have assigned it to, unless you want to cause disorder.
Accidents are remedied with difficulty, unless you quickly take the facility of thinking.
Men, steel, money, and bread, are the sinews of war; but of these four, the first two are more necessary, for men and steel find money and bread, but money and bread do not find men and steel.
The unarmed rich man is the prize of the poor soldier.
Accustom your soldiers to despise delicate living and luxurious clothing.
Every well-governed commonwealth, therefore, should take care that this art of war should be practiced in time of peace only as an exercise, and in time of war, only out of necessity and for the acquisition of glory, and that it should be practiced, as in Rome, by the state alone. For if any citizen has another end or design in following this profession, he is not a good man; if any commonwealth acts otherwise, it is not well governed.
— Machiavelli
While I engage in war by different means, the pen is mightier than the sword after all; by Machiavelli's definition, I am not a good man... or good woman... and my commonwealth is not well governed.
Thank you for an excellent post on Machiavelli’s writings and it’s obvious he was quite the threat to the Medici family. Many of his directions on the art of war are still good. Sun Tsu’s work includes several that are alike, however, I don’t leave with the same impression as Machiavelli’s focus is just pure personal power. I’m a huge fan of Ayn Rand’s work, especially The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. All three of these great thinkers observed humanity as it is and likely stand out to a ‘sleeping’ population.
Blessings!🙏
Thank you, Elizabeth. I am going to share this here, and hopefully save it to share in more platforms, when the park decides to get our internet running.