Key Arguments

• He asserts that such a prince "can not be attacked, or should he be so, his assailant will come badly off."
• Human affairs are variable, impeding prolonged sieges: "it is almost impossible for any one to keep an army posted in leaguer for a whole year without interruption of some sort."
• Thus the defensive advantages of fortification and goodwill combine with logistical limits on attackers to deter conquest.

Source Quotes

Moreover, they esteem military exercises and have many regulations for their maintenance. A Prince, therefore, who has a strong city, and who does not make himself hated, can not be attacked, or should he be so, his assailant will come badly off; since human affairs are so variable that it is almost impossible for any one to keep an army posted in leaguer for a whole year without interruption of some sort. Should it be objected that if the citizens have possessions outside the town, and see them burned, they will lose patience, and that self-interest, together with the hardships of a protracted siege, will cause them to forget their loyalty; I answer that a capable and courageous Prince will always overcome these difficulties, now, by holding out hopes to his subjects that the evil will not be of long continuance; now, by exciting their fears of the enemy’s cruelty; and, again, by dexterously silencing those who seem to him too forward in their complaints.

Key Concepts

• A Prince, therefore, who has a strong city, and who does not make himself hated, can not be attacked, or should he be so, his assailant will come badly off;
• human affairs are so variable that it is almost impossible for any one to keep an army posted in leaguer for a whole year without interruption of some sort.

Context

Chapter 10 (lines 671-707), strategic implication of fortifications plus popular non-hatred.