Princes raised by nobles face greater difficulty than those raised by the people because nobles feel themselves equals, make dishonorable and injurious demands, and can desert or turn against the prince; by contrast, popular princes encounter ready obedience, more honorable and satisfiable demands, and a disaffected people is less dangerous than hostile nobles.

By Niccolò Machiavelli, from The Prince

Key Arguments

  • Noble-elevated princes find “many about him who think themselves as good as he,” hindering governance, whereas popular-elevated princes “finds himself alone” with broad obedience.
  • Nobles’ demands cannot be met “with credit to the Prince, nor without injury to others,” while the people’s aim “not to be oppressed” is honorable and satisfiable.
  • A prince “can never secure himself against a disaffected people,” but he can against disaffected nobles due to their smaller number.
  • The worst from a disaffected people is desertion, but nobles may not only desert but “turn against him,” choosing opportune times with craft and foresight.
  • Princes must always live with the same people, but can ‘make and unmake’ nobles, adjusting their authority at will.

Source Quotes

The people, on the other hand, when they see that they cannot make head against the nobles, invest a single citizen with all their influence and make him Prince, that they may have the shelter of his authority. He who is made Prince by the favour of the nobles, has greater difficulty to maintain himself than he who comes to the Princedom by aid of the people, since he finds many about him who think themselves as good as he, and whom, on that account, he cannot guide or govern as he would. But he who reaches the Princedom by the popular support, finds himself alone, with none, or but a very few about him who are not ready to obey.
He who is made Prince by the favour of the nobles, has greater difficulty to maintain himself than he who comes to the Princedom by aid of the people, since he finds many about him who think themselves as good as he, and whom, on that account, he cannot guide or govern as he would. But he who reaches the Princedom by the popular support, finds himself alone, with none, or but a very few about him who are not ready to obey. Moreover, the demands of the nobles cannot be satisfied with credit to the Prince, nor without injury to others, while those of the people well may, the aim of the people being more honourable than that of the nobles, the latter seeking to oppress, the former not to be oppressed.
But he who reaches the Princedom by the popular support, finds himself alone, with none, or but a very few about him who are not ready to obey. Moreover, the demands of the nobles cannot be satisfied with credit to the Prince, nor without injury to others, while those of the people well may, the aim of the people being more honourable than that of the nobles, the latter seeking to oppress, the former not to be oppressed. Add to this, that a Prince can never secure himself against a disaffected people, their number being too great, while he may against a disaffected nobility, since their number is small.
Moreover, the demands of the nobles cannot be satisfied with credit to the Prince, nor without injury to others, while those of the people well may, the aim of the people being more honourable than that of the nobles, the latter seeking to oppress, the former not to be oppressed. Add to this, that a Prince can never secure himself against a disaffected people, their number being too great, while he may against a disaffected nobility, since their number is small. The worst that a Prince need fear from a disaffected people is, that they may desert him, whereas when the nobles are his enemies he has to fear not only that they may desert him, but also that they may turn against him; because, as they have greater craft and foresight, they always choose their time to suit their safety, and seek favour with the side they think will win.
Add to this, that a Prince can never secure himself against a disaffected people, their number being too great, while he may against a disaffected nobility, since their number is small. The worst that a Prince need fear from a disaffected people is, that they may desert him, whereas when the nobles are his enemies he has to fear not only that they may desert him, but also that they may turn against him; because, as they have greater craft and foresight, they always choose their time to suit their safety, and seek favour with the side they think will win. Again, a Prince must always live with the same people, but need not always live with the same nobles, being able to make and unmake these from day to day, and give and take away their authority at his pleasure.
The worst that a Prince need fear from a disaffected people is, that they may desert him, whereas when the nobles are his enemies he has to fear not only that they may desert him, but also that they may turn against him; because, as they have greater craft and foresight, they always choose their time to suit their safety, and seek favour with the side they think will win. Again, a Prince must always live with the same people, but need not always live with the same nobles, being able to make and unmake these from day to day, and give and take away their authority at his pleasure. But to make this part of the matter clearer, I say that as regards the nobles there is this first distinction to be made.

Key Concepts

  • He who is made Prince by the favour of the nobles, has greater difficulty to maintain himself than he who comes to the Princedom by aid of the people
  • finds many about him who think themselves as good as he, and whom, on that account, he cannot guide or govern as he would.
  • he who reaches the Princedom by the popular support, finds himself alone, with none, or but a very few about him who are not ready to obey.
  • the aim of the people being more honourable than that of the nobles, the latter seeking to oppress, the former not to be oppressed.
  • A Prince can never secure himself against a disaffected people, their number being too great, while he may against a disaffected nobility
  • The worst that a Prince need fear from a disaffected people is, that they may desert him, whereas when the nobles are his enemies he has to fear not only that they may desert him, but also that they may turn against him
  • a Prince must always live with the same people, but need not always live with the same nobles, being able to make and unmake these from day to day, and give and take away their authority at his pleasure.

Context

Chapter 9 (lines 598-669), comparative assessment of stability and manageability of popular versus noble foundations.