Niccolo Machiavelli

"He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command."-Machiavelli

Biography

• Born May 3rd, 1469 in Florence, Italy. Died June 21st, 1527.
• Born into a semi wealthy family, was the 3rd son of his father, Bernardo his father was an educated humanist and he also practiced law
• First Modern thinker in politics after the 1200's
• Machiavelli was a realist
• Diplomat during the Renaissance 
• From 1503 to 1506 Niccolo led the Florentine militia.
• From birth Machiavelli was raised by his father to be highly educated, while growing up he was taught greek and latin.
• Niccolo also was the one who got the Medici family expelled and restored the republic to Italy.
• In the 16th century Machiavelli became known as "Old Nick" which at the time was a popular name for Satan.
• In 1513, after the Medici family helped the Spanish conquer Florentine, Machiavelli was captured and accused of committing a conspiracy.
• Though Machiavelli was tortured, he did not confess to the crimes, and left politics after being allowed to go free
• Machiavelli retired to his estate Sant' Andrea in Percussina, where he continued to write treaties, and work on his political philosophy. 
• Jesuits refered to him as "the Devils Partner in Crime"
• Later in Shakespearen plays "Murderous Machiavel" became a  very popular reference.
• He met many important politicians such as the Pope and the King of France, none of them had an impact on him like Price Borgia did. He didn't agree with all of Borgia's policies but he loved how cruel he was and he believed with a ruler like Borgia would unite Italy.

• Machiavelli's major goal in his life was to unite Italy

FAMOUS QUOTES FROM MACHIAVELLI

"It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both."-Niccolo

"Politics have no relation to morals"-Niccolo Machiavelli

"Im not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it"- Niccolo Machiavelli

QUOTES FROM OTHERS ON MACHIAVELLI'S WORK

"Machiavelli thought a Prince or a leader had to act in a way that assured stability and order; the leader had a duty to the people, in other words.  His emphasis on political expediency was not in the service of the personal power of a politician or leader, but in allowing that leader to do what is necessary for the sake of the people.  The reason for this often misunderstood aspect of Machiavelli’s thought is evident when looking at his life."- Scott Erb

"At first glance, The Prince may seem irrelevant to our lives today. After all, the book is almost 500 years old! But the abuse of power is not peculiar to Renaissance politics. It can occur at any time, in any workplace, in any relationship. The principles Machiavelli discovered apply equally to our lives today."- Ian Demack

"The Prince is a thought-provoking and sometimes shocking piece on political theory and human nature. Most importantly, and perhaps frightening, its interest hasn’t diminished much almost five centuries after it came to light. Bertrand Russel’s cynical remark, made some fifty years ago, seems to still retain validity: “The world has become more like that of Machiavelli than it was, and the modern man who hopes to refute his philosophy must think more deeply than seemed necessary in the nineteenth century.”- Cambridge University Press

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI'S PHILISOPHICAL VIEWS

• Niccolo Machiavelli is mainly remembered for writing a book on political theory known as “the Prince”

• Machiavelli also wrote the book “the Art of War”, not to be confused with Sun Tzu’s “the Art of War”

• In much of Machiavelli’s work he defines political morality

• Machiavelli thinks that cruelty is alright, as long as it is productive to the leader, quick, clean, and fast.

• Machiavelli also encouraged methodic exercise of brute force punishment-and-reward in order to keep the status quo in from declining. 
• Some think that Machiavelli was a almost utilitarian in his views of how things should be done.
• In "the Prince" Machiavelli talks about a political leader who unites all of the city-states, rids them of corruption, and then gets them to unify against foreighn intervention, and conquest.
• Machiavelli believed that in order to maintain a strong loyalty of the people, that new leaders must be related by blood to the former leader.
• Machiavelli also believed that people would follow the good example of someone in a political position.

REFERENCE'S/SOURCES

Wikipedia

http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Reading_Revolutions/Machiavelli.html

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/niccolo_machiavelli.html

http://www.cnn.com

http://www.emachiavelli.com/

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/staff/academic/ferraz/machiavelli/