Discourses on Livy
After reading The Prince a while back, I had thought that was all for Machiavelli; well, his Discourses, after going through both, is by far the superior and more comprehensive treatise on political science and human nature. Discourses focuses on the issues facing republics, whereas The Prince was meant to be an advice book to a monarch, a “prince” – from this difference, Discourses is much more applicable to today. It is based on the Roman historian Titus Livy’s written history on Roman affairs, and Machiavelli relies heavily on Roman examples, which is comparatively more relatable to us modern readers than Florentine or Italian affairs during Machiavelli’s time; he also uses fascinating examples from Spartan history, and of the flourishing Venetian Republic during his time. Just like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Machiavelli’s work on political science and some on military affairs is really a general work on good leadership and I’ve gotten some great nuggets of wisdom from it.
In Discourses we see a different Machiavelli. He is writing for the potentially capable governors of republics (specifically, several of his intellectual friends) which focuses more on making sure government is stable to ensure the quality of life for its citizens. Contrast this with the Machiavelli that most know: the ultra-realist advisor to some reptilian monarch. Because Machiavelli is focusing on good governance (which is a broader scope than how-to-be-a-strong-prince) he mentions a few interesting ideas. For one, he clearly states the value of checks and balances (but he didn’t call it that), and I separate two types he mentions into the institutional and temporal. Institutional is the systematic power separation between, for example, the senate and consuls, or today the president and Congress; this type we know well. Temporal follows more from the maxim that Machiavelli mentions: “the greater the power, the shorter the term”. This maxim checks against tyranny and promotes service rather than exploitation of an office since a potentially profitable office won’t be held by someone for too long. There are a ton other interesting ideas, such as what makes republics like Venice or Sparta so stable, Rome’s revolutionary citizenship system to attract talent, or Rome’s liberal offerings of suzerainty to its neighbors – allowing for their self-governance after being conquered – that directly parallels today’s mergers and acquisitions. I’ve put some of these in the quotes page.
% grep -i "discourses on livy" quotes.txt13 matches
on humility vs. arrogance
“Humility is not only of no help, but is a hindrance, especially when used in dealing with arrogant men who either out of envy or for some other cause, have come to hate you”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on justice
“No well-ordered republic allows the demerits of its citizens to be cancelled out by their merits”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on laws
“[Princes] begin to lose their state the moment they begin to break the laws and to disregard the ancient traditions and customs under which men have long lived”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on governance
“In every republic there are two different dispositions, that of the populace and that of the upper class and that all legislation favorable to liberty is brought about by the clash between them”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on mobs
“The restless minds of the plebs cause endless squabbles and trouble in a republic, and is enough to drive the nobility to desperate measures which in course of time have disastrous results”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on groups
“If the populace makes mistakes about generalities, it does not make mistakes about particulars”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on religious rhetoric
“Many benefits of which a prudent man is aware, are not so evident to reason that he can convince others of them. Hence wise men, in order to escape this difficulty, have recourse to God”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on inheritance of power
“All the [Roman] emperors who acquired imperial power by inheritance were bad men, with the exception of Titus; those who acquired it through adoption, were all good, like the five counting from Nerva to Marcus; and when it fell to their heirs a period of decadence again ensued”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on paradox of getting and using power
“Very rarely will there be found a good man ready to use bad methods in order to make himself a prince, though with a good end in view, nor yet a bad man who, having become a prince, is ready to do the right thing and to whose mind it will occur to use well that authority which he has acquired by bad means”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on offending
“It is necessary, therefore, either never to injure anyone, or to inflict the injuries at one go, and then to reassure men and give them ground to expect peace and security”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on unpopular stances
“Danger is incurred only when many have opposed you, and the result being unfortunate, they combine to bring about your downfall”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on work
“We see how slow men are to act when they think they have time, and how quick to act when the need becomes urgent”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses
on leveraging network
“The Romans always took care to have in new provinces some friend to act as a ladder up which to climb or a door by which to enter, or as a means whereby to hold it … people who observe such customs will be found to have less need of fortune than those who do not observe them well”
— Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses