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1CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH PRINCES SHOULD KEEP FAITH [1] "The present chapter has given greater offence than any other
2portion of Machiavelli's writings." Burd, "Il Principe," p. 297. Every one admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to
3keep faith, and to live with integrity and not with craft. Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who
4have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by
5craft, and in the end have overcome those who have relied on their word. You must know there are two ways of
6contesting,[2] the one by the law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but
7because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second. Therefore it is
8necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man. This has been figuratively taught to
9princes by ancient writers, who describe how Achilles and many other princes of old were given to the Centaur Chiron to
10nurse, who brought them up in his discipline; which means solely that, as they had for a teacher one who was half beast
11and half man, so it is necessary for a prince to know how to make use of both natures, and that one without the other is
12not durable. A prince, therefore, being compelled knowingly to adopt the beast, ought to choose the fox and the lion;
13because the lion cannot defend himself against snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it is
14necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves. Those who rely simply on the lion do not
15understand what they are about. Therefore a wise lord cannot, nor ought he to, keep faith when such observance may be
16turned against him, and when the reasons that caused him to pledge it exist no longer. If men were entirely good this
17precept would not hold, but because they are bad, and will not keep faith with you, you too are not bound to observe it
18with them. Nor will there ever be wanting to a prince legitimate reasons to excuse this non-observance. Of this endless
19modern examples could be given, showing how many treaties and engagements have been made void and of no effect through
20the faithlessness of princes; and he who has known best how to employ the fox has succeeded best. [2] "Contesting," i.e.
21"striving for mastery." Mr Burd points out that this passage is imitated directly from Cicero's "De Officiis": "Nam cum
22sint duo genera decertandi, unum per disceptationem, alterum per vim; cumque illud proprium sit hominis, hoc beluarum;
23confugiendum est ad posterius, si uti non licet superiore." But it is necessary to know well how to disguise this
24characteristic, and to be a great pretender and dissembler; and men are so simple, and so subject to present
25necessities, that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived. One recent
26example I cannot pass over in silence. Alexander the Sixth did nothing else but deceive men, nor ever thought of doing
27otherwise, and he always found victims; for there never was a man who had greater power in asserting, or who with
28greater oaths would affirm a thing, yet would observe it less; nevertheless his deceits always succeeded according to
29his wishes,[3] because he well understood this side of mankind. [3] "Nondimanco sempre gli succederono gli inganni (ad
30votum)." The words "ad votum" are omitted in the Testina addition, 1550. Alexander never did what he said, Cesare never
31said what he did. Italian Proverb. Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have
32enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and
33always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane,
34religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and
35know how to change to the opposite. And you have to understand this, that a prince, especially a new one, cannot observe
36all those things for which men are esteemed, being often forced, in order to maintain the state, to act contrary to
37fidelity,[4] friendship, humanity, and religion. Therefore it is necessary for him to have a mind ready to turn itself
38accordingly as the winds and variations of fortune force it, yet, as I have said above, not to diverge from the good if
39he can avoid doing so, but, if compelled, then to know how to set about it. [4] "Contrary to fidelity" or "faith,"
40"contro alla fede," and "tutto fede," "altogether faithful," in the next paragraph. It is noteworthy that these two
41phrases, "contro alla fede" and "tutto fede," were omitted in the Testina edition, which was published with the sanction
42of the papal authorities. It may be that the meaning attached to the word "fede" was "the faith," i.e. the Catholic
43creed, and not as rendered here "fidelity" and "faithful." Observe that the word "religione" was suffered to stand in
44the text of the Testina, being used to signify indifferently every shade of belief, as witness "the religion," a phrase
45inevitably employed to designate the Huguenot heresy. South in his Sermon IX, p. 69, ed. 1843, comments on this passage
46as follows: "That great patron and Coryphaeus of this tribe, Nicolo Machiavel, laid down this for a master rule in his
47political scheme: 'That the show of religion was helpful to the politician, but the reality of it hurtful and
48pernicious.'" For this reason a prince ought to take care that he never lets anything slip from his lips that is not
49replete with the above-named five qualities, that he may appear to him who sees and hears him altogether merciful,
50faithful, humane, upright, and religious. There is nothing more necessary to appear to have than this last quality,
51inasmuch as men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because it belongs to everybody to see you, to few to
52come in touch with you. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not
53oppose themselves to the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of
54all men, and especially of princes, which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result. For that reason, let
55a prince have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be
56praised by everybody; because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it; and in
57the world there are only the vulgar, for the few find a place there only when the many have no ground to rest on. One
58prince[5] of the present time, whom it is not well to name, never preaches anything else but peace and good faith, and
59to both he is most hostile, and either, if he had kept it, would have deprived him of reputation and kingdom many a
60time. [5] Ferdinand of Aragon. "When Machiavelli was writing The Prince it would have been clearly impossible to mention
61Ferdinand's name here without giving offence." Burd's "Il Principe," p. 308.
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