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Nov 10, 2011

Stephen rated it:

That single statement boys and girls is the crux at the heart of the matter resting at the bottom-line of Niccolo Machiavelli’s world-changing classic on the defining use of realpolitik in governance and foreign policy. Despite popular perception, Machiavelli, whose name has often been used as a synonym for political ASSHATery, was not arguing that it’s better to be immoral, cruel and evil than to be moral, just and good. Rather, Machiavelli was demonstrating, through reasoned analysis bas More...

17 comments like (57 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2011

Alex rated it:

I'm weirdly pleased that The Prince lives up to its reputation: it is indeed Machiavellian. Here's his advice on conquering self-governing states (i.e. democracies): "The only way to hold on to such a state is to reduce it to rubble." Well then.

I'd like to say that any guy whose last name becomes a synonym for evil is a badass, but Machiavelli wasn't; he was a failed minor diplomat who wrote this in a failed attempt to get reemployed. Stupid attempt, too; anyone who hire More...

15 comments like (21 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Petra X rated it:

How to run things and hopefully remain popular but not give a monkey's if they hate you. How to instil enough fear in people that they at least show respect to your face.

Plenty of good lessons here for a politician, but adaptable by anyone if you don't mind being thought evil by your nearest and dearest. And I don't.

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 13, 2011

Abdulaziz rated it:

كتاب الأمير لنيكولو دي مكيافيلي ( 4 من 5)

مقدمة:
في تقيمي هذا لن أحاول أن أطلق الأحكام على مكيافيلي فهذا الكتاب أول كتاب أقراءه له وقد سمعت بعض من فلسفاته في مصادر متعددة من قبل وسمعت من بعض ممن يمدحون الكاتب وأخرون يذموه ولكن تبقى الحقيقة أني لست مؤهل للحكم عليه في الوقت الحالي.

من المعروف أن فلسفة مكيافلي كانت مشهورة جداً في عهد الرينسانس وهي مايسمى باللغة العربية عهد النهضة وهي الفترة التي أشتهر فيها أعادة دراسة العلوم القديمة وكانت الفترة التي سبقت عصر التنوير الأر More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 27, 2010

Hossam rated it:

لا خلاف علي أن الكتاب صادم للغاية، عبر فيه ميكيافيللي عن أراء وأفكار سياسية تتعارض مع الكثير من المبادئ والأخلاق، نبعت فيه مواقفة من قاعدة هو من أرسى مبادئها "الغاية تبرر الوسيلة"، حيث كل شئ مباح للحكام والأمراء سعياً وراء ما أتفقت عليه رغبات البشر من نجاح وسيطرة وحكم، ففي سبيل ذلك يحق للحاكم أن يكذب وينقض عهده وينافق ويمكر لشعبه وينقلب علي من مد له يد العون وأن يغش ويخدع، ويصبح كل ذلك محمود بل ولا غني عنه للوصول للحكم والنجاح فيه.

شخصياً،أفترضت خطأ أفكاره بحجة أن حكام أمثال More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2008

Paul rated it:

In this book, Machiavelli makes his purpose clear: how to get power and keep it.

No happiness. No warm and fuzzy pats on the back. Definitely no hugs. No words of encouragement. Definitely nothing about being nice.

Being nice, in politics, in war, in struggles for power, often ends with one person winning and the other person being in prison, disgraced, exiled, or dead.

That was the context in which Machiavelli wrote this book. Italy at the time was a collecti More...

3 comments like (21 people liked it)

Jun 06, 2008

Jennifer (JC-S) rated it:

A young colleague of mine recently said ‘management is easy’. I smiled enigmatically and considered buying him a copy of ‘The Prince’ but I fear it would be wasted. I am now on my third copy of this book which, alas, I can only read in English. The George Bull translation (as reprinted in 1995) is the version I currently refer to.
I first read this book when studying economic history at high school in the second half of the last century. I was intrigued by Machiavelli’s advice even thoug More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Eric rated it:

I will go out on a limb to say that second only to the major religious works (the Bible, the Koran, etc.), Nicolo Macchiavellie's "The Prince" is the most important and influential work that has ever been put into print. Composed by the Florentine in the 16th Century, "The Prince" provides the blueprint not just for the Renaissance ruler for whom it was allegedly penned, but also for anyone in politics, warfare, or even contemporary business. Machiavelli's premises may seem More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2008

Peter rated it:

I don't understand when people analyze the historical and contemporary issues of this book after just their first reading. Did they not really enjoy this book?
Perhaps there is just a little tyrant inside of me wanting to get out, but during each discourse whether on cruelty and mercy or holding a newly captured province, I imagined myself as that Prince and wondered what I should do to increase my power.

(Yes, I know the book was probably meant for Medici family members.)
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0 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 29, 2011

Ibrahim rated it:

كتاب الأمير رغم انه انتهىء من كتابة قبل خمسمية سنة إلا أنه ما زال يلامس واقع كثير من سياسات العرب وبالأخص نظام الملكي أكثر من الجمهوري او الجمهورلكيات.

فهو كما يجاز قولاً مفصل للزعماء العرب ومناسب جدا لمقاس فسادهم ومن حاكاهم..

فمقولة ميكيافيلي الشهيرة " الغاية تبرر الوسيلة " هي بالفعل ما يقوم به رؤساء العرب من فعل المستحيل و سياسة التخوين والطعن والطرد من الوطن والإقصاء، كل ذلك من أجل أن يدوم الكرسي طويلاً تحت أقدامهم، فكل وسيلة ممكنة من أجل هذه الغاية..

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4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 15, 2010

Evan rated it:

OK, we read this in college to familiarize ourselves with the idea of "realpolitick." All I got from it was a big dirty flavor of fascism. But it's certainly interesting to read it for its historical significance and as a guide to the hows and wherefores of ruthless, merciless rule. It's this kind of stuff, though, that gets us Vietnam and Iraq and Gitmo, so no thanks.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 10, 2007

Sara rated it:

For my "Renaissance War and Peace" class. Interesting philosophy I suppose. But if it enlightened me more on anything, it was why I hate politicians in the first place.

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2008

Galen rated it:

Let us be cruel and full of parsimony! Shall be utilizing this text next week when I take over the world....

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 09, 2011

Carol rated it:

It is unfair of me to rate this book as I wasn't really focused. This is one book I'd like to have a professor parse out for me. I wonder if Peterson will let me sit in on a class!
I think it takes more than one read to absorb, which I don't see happening. The introduction was helpful but I didn't read the letters/stories at the end. I was sick of it. Lots of references to forgotten rulers. Go Switzers!!
After writing this to curry favor and get reappointed, I kept imagining Machiavel More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 10, 2012

Nymphadora rated it:

I’m afraid this book woke up the little tyrant in me, OK, let’s face it… it’s been there all along, it just exposed it clearly. I mean, this book was supposed to machiavellian, right? Which in my dictionary meant pure evil, morally distorted… nothing even remotely similar to absolutely true. All in all, it surprised me. It’s not like Niccolò wasn’t a manipulative bastard (if you don’t mind me saying). Oh, he was, alright. But I find him honest and quite brilliant.
This is a handbook for des More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 08, 2011

Angela rated it:

Classic book about politics and power...per the cover copy: "The famous analysis of Statesmanship and Power. This world-renowned study reveals the techniques and strategy of gaining and keeping political control."

I picked up this book some years ago at a yard sale or a used book store...I don't remember which. And (picture my head hung in shame) it sat on the bookshelf, giving me a guilt complex every time I passed it over for something else. And It's such a short little thi More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Mar 24, 2011

Sophie rated it:

I admit this book wasn't at all what I expected. One in a line of many books I've often read about or read "summaries" of, I decided to finally read it mostly because of my current, video-game-inspired interest in the Italy of the Renaissance. As silly as it may sound, I really did think this was a bad, as in evil, book teaching people how to be a tyrant.

And while it is a guidebook for aspiring leaders, and contains many sentences that leave one feeling uncomfortable or th More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2011

Ben rated it:

Want to know the difference between the Renaissance and present-day society? If Machiavelli had written The Prince today, it would be called Ruling Principalities for Dummies. In the fifteenth century, manuals for prospective rulers took the form of profound philosophical treatises. In the twenty-first century, they're bullet-point lists bound in bright yellow covers with a cartoon on the front. Part history and part philosophy, The Prince is a glimpse into the mind of a Renaissance thinker. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 01, 2008

Deellen rated it:

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 27, 2008

Jensen rated it:

"The Prince" is a famous Rennaissance text that addresses the nature of human power and pursuit. It discusses successful tactics to be used by newly appointed rulers or by people who wish to be rulers. Though the book was certainly revolutionary for its time, as many of the ideas Machiavelli were new and bold when the book was written, it seems slightly redundant in today's context. Some of the ideas he presents seem ordinary and obvious, as the times are very different from when the b More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2009

Charlie rated it:

Any one who needs or wants to know how politics (or job management) works, read this one.

A little heavy at times but good for those who long for or are in a power-position.
And good stuff to know on how to get there <EWG>

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 18, 2008

Tyler rated it:

The book contains a chronicle of some of the conflicts of the Renaissance, so it is good history.

I read it because of its connection with the current political philosophy of neoconservativism, especially in regard to Leo Strauss.

As a philosophy, or as a "how-to" kit for beating your enemies and pulling the wool over people's eyes, this importunate appeal has been superseded by treachery far beyond anything the author could ever have imagined.

People More...

1 comment like

Feb 19, 2009

KristenR rated it:

This was an interesting piece of satire that, unfortunately, I don't feel I was completely able to appreciate. There were simply too many historical references that I was not familiar with and I got bored.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 15, 2009

Rhonda rated it:

I have to admit that I did not have a good time reading this book, either the first time when I wanted to be impressive toothers in high school government class or several years ago when I was trying to impress myself. In truth, this book is a hard read and at various times you have to wonder whether he is being serious. Of course Machiavelli was being more than serious: he was creating a means by which a loose knit group of semi-unwilling people could be joined together effectively in strength More...

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Jan 10, 2009

El rated it:

Good golly, I do love me some Florence! This past October while we were there we rented bikes and spent the entire time riding around. Reading The Prince was almost as good a feeling as that; the only thing that could possibly have made it better would be to actually have read it while in Florence.

Here Machiavelli expresses what one who is on track for the throne should do in order to achieve the goal and also what to do to succeed it at. He detailed different leaders in history, More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Tim rated it:

A true classic of political thought. Written in the 16th Century, Machiavelli used his experience as a bureaucrat, and his extensive reading of history to distill his political thoughts. This was controversial in its day, as Machiavelli dared to say what many thought: That being ruthless as a leader was as important to continued success as doing good.

Details: I read this in high school, and it was fascinating to re-read it as an adult. This book is still relevant today to those inter More...

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Dec 29, 2011

Colin rated it:

As a whole Machiavelli's masterpiece is dry. Machiavelli departs on a very systematic depiction of kingdoms and how they might be run. That is not to say I did not enjoy some elements of this book. Much of the book consisted of historical anecdotes and, thankfully, being a bit of a history buff I took interest in learning about the factionalism that plagued 13th century Italy. The one aspect that I was most drawn to in his writing was his pragmatism. One of my favorite quotes from the book was, More...

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Oct 24, 2011

Monthly Book Group rated it:

Is the book applicable today? Is it a manual for behaviour? Or was he writing for common people, to explain to them how princes behave? After all, it wasn’t written in Latin. Is it written as a warning to the naïve? Is it satirical?

These questions divided the group. The proposer – a computer scientist - suggested it could be viewed almost as if it were a guide to writing a computer programme, since it sets rules and parameters for actions: if ‘x’ then ‘y’. Another reader wondered if it More...

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Oct 10, 2011

Bruce rated it:

Machiavelli lived during a time of serious and almost continual turmoil in Italy, a time when Italy was being overrun and subdued by the French under Louis and the forces of the Holy Roman Empire under Charles. He was a devoted republican in the Florence of his day and was also the victim of the political vicissitudes characteristic of the times, Florence sometimes being ruled as a republic, sometimes being ruled by the Medici autocracy. As a result, he had to be politically nimble – and he wa More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2011

D rated it:

This was a somewhat good read that I wish I had read in my earlier years. It was not completely boring. For those of you who are assigned to read this in some class and are thinking about skipping the read and just cliff noting it, I would say that you are missing out on some well learned advice from the past. If you are reading this for a class it would be helpful to obtain a version of this book that had some notes that went along with it to explain some of the language used throughout the More...

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