Machiavelli Letters – 1513

Letter from Niccolo Machiavelli to Francesco Vettori, 10 December 1513

On the coming of evening, I return to my house and enter my study; and at the door I take off the day’s clothing, covered with mud and dust, and put on garments regal and courtly; and reclothed appropriately, I enter the ancient courts of ancient men, where, received by them with affection, I feed on that food which only is mine and which I was born for, where I am not ashamed to speak with them and to ask them the reason for their actions; and they in their kindness answer me; and for four hours of time I do not feel boredom, I forget every trouble, I do not dread poverty, I am not frightened by death; entirely I give myself over to them.

And because Dante says it does not produce knowledge when we hear but do not remember, I have noted everything in their conversation which has profited me, and have composed a little work On Princedoms (De principatibus), where I go as deeply as I can into considerations on this subject, debating what a princedom is, of what kinds they are, how they are gained, how they are kept, why they are lost.

Then and Now – W. Somerset Maugham (1946)

Ch. XXIX:

Caesar Borgia:

“Is it possible that you are devoid of ambition?”

“Far from it. Excellency,” smiled Machiavelli. “My ambition is to serve my state to the best of my ability.”

“That is just what you will not be allowed to do. You know better than anyone that in a republic talent is suspect. A man attains high office because his mediocrity prevents him from being a menace to his associates. That is why a democracy is ruled not by the men who are most competent to rule it, but by the men whose insignificance can excite nobody’s apprehension. Do you know what are the cankers that eat the heart of a democracy?”

He looked at Machiavelli as though waiting for an answer, but Machiavelli said nothing.

“Envy and fear. The petty men in office are envious of their associates and rather than that one of them should gain reputation will prevent him from taking a measure on which may depend the safety and prosperity of the state; and they are fearful because they know that all about them are others who will stop at neither lies nor trickery to step into their shoes. And what is the result? The result is that they are more afraid of doing wrong than zealous to do right. They say that dog doesn’t bite dog: whoever invented that proverb had never lived under a democratic government.”

Machiavelli remained silent. He knew only too well how much truth there was in what the Duke said. He remembered how hotly the election to his own subordinate post had been contested and with what bitterness his defeated rivals had taken it. He knew that he had colleagues who were watching his every step, ready to pounce upon any slip he made that might induce the Signory to dismiss him.The Duke continued.

“A prince in my position is free to choose men to serve him for their ability. He need not give a post to a man who is incapable of filling it because he needs his influence or because he has a party behind him whose services must be recognized. He fears no rival because he is above rivalry and so, instead of favouring mediocrity, which is the curse and bane of democracy, seeks out talent, energy, initiative and intelligence. No wonder things go from bad to worse in your republic; the last reason for which anyone gets office is his fitness for it.”

“Your Excellency will permit me to remind him that the favour of princes is notoriously uncertain. They can exalt a man to great heights, but they can also cast him down to the depths.”

Epilogue

“They fly towards heaven in their esctasy, their hearts bursting with song, and then, caught by an idle boy, they’re cooked and eaten. So man, for all his soaring ideals, his vision of intellectual beauty and his yearning for the infinite, in the end is caught by the perversity of fate and serves no other purpose than to feed the worms.”

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“In this world of sin and sorrow, if virtue triumphs over vice, it is not because it is virtuous, but because it has better and bigger guns; if honesty prevails over double-dealing, it is not because it is honest, but because it has a stronger army more nobly led; and if good overcomes evil, it is not because it is good, but because it has a well-lined purse. It is well to have right on our side, but it is madness to forget that unless we have might as well it will avail us nothing. We must believe that God loves men of good will, but there is no evidence to show that He will save fools from the result of their folly.”

A (by no means original) thought – NA

Rousseau claims that humans beings are good by nature but are corrupted by society. Machiavelli on the other hand believes we are naturally evil unless we’re made to be good. Morality is a codification of human prejudice says France. Paine believes government is a necessary evil. These ideas of morality and the need to be governed and the need for rules presents a two sided coin for us to choose from, in essence, a false dichotomy. The idea is that there is good and there is evil. But what exactly is ‘goodness’? We have an idea of what it means to act justly. But is there inherent goodness? Is there good without action? Is there evil without action?

These concepts of good and evil arise out of our attitude towards the result or outcome of action, i.e., the impact of certain actions upon us or others. Goodness exists subjectively but what does it mean to be objectively good? If I wish to be good, how do I do so without action? I could hope for ‘good’ things to happen to others but hoping is an action, it is created by the ideas that we have and sometimes choose to physically act upon. Without human beings, there would be no such things as good and evil. Goodness therefore is dependent on humans and as such is dependent on our needs at the moment. Morality thus is subjective/relative. It also depends on societal needs, which change over time and space (geographic location).