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Niccolo Machiavelli's Gift To Lorenzo De Medici

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Niccolo Machiavelli’s gift to Lorenzo de Medici, The Prince, is a discourse discussing politics and how a prince should rule his state. Machiavelli describes his beliefs on the most efficient way for a prince to rule and remain in power and validates his arguments by referencing historical examples and using metaphors. One of the most prominent themes of The Prince is fortune. When speaking of fortune, Machiavelli is referring to luck, fate, or chance. He applies this concept to princes and principalities. Fortune can be either useful or advantageous, or it can be harmful or dangerous. Machiavelli believes that fortune controls half of one's life and the other half is controlled by one's own talent.Machiavelli argues that someone can gain power through his own ability or by good fortune. Good fortune could possibly come in the form of being born into power, buying power, or being assigned a governmental position. Machiavelli believes that it is very easy to come into power with fortune but very difficult to come into power with one's own ability. On the other hand, staying in power after acquiring it by fortune is very difficult whereas staying in power after acquiring it by virtue is rather simple. Machiavelli supposes this because people who have come into power with fortune "rest simply on the will and fortune of whoever has given a state to …show more content…
This discontent may compel the public to dislike the prince. Therefore, Machiavelli cautions princes and rulers to always appear to be virtuous to the public. He even gives an example to prove that he is indeed correct in his assertion. He states that "Alexander VI never did anything, nor ever thought of anything, but how to deceive men, and he always found a subject to whom he could do it"

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