Key Arguments

• If liberality is not known, one still incurs blame for its opposite, so reputation pressures the prince to spend visibly.
• To gain credit for liberality, the prince must engage in lavish display, consuming his resources.
• Maintaining this reputation compels extraordinary taxes and confiscations, producing hatred among subjects and loss of esteem as the prince grows impoverished.
• After offending many and obliging few, the prince ends worse than he began; reversing course brings the 'infamy of miserliness.'

Source Quotes

Beginning, then, with the first of the qualities above noticed, I say that it may be a good thing to be reputed liberal, but, nevertheless, that liberality without the reputation of it is hurtful; because, though it be worthily and rightly used, still if it be not known, you escape not the reproach of its opposite vice. Hence, to have credit for liberality with the world at large, you must neglect no circumstance of sumptuous display; the result being, that a Prince of a liberal disposition will consume his whole substance in things of this sort, and, after all, be obliged, if he would maintain his reputation for liberality, to burden his subjects with extraordinary taxes, and to resort to confiscations and all the other shifts whereby money is raised.

Beginning, then, with the first of the qualities above noticed, I say that it may be a good thing to be reputed liberal, but, nevertheless, that liberality without the reputation of it is hurtful; because, though it be worthily and rightly used, still if it be not known, you escape not the reproach of its opposite vice. Hence, to have credit for liberality with the world at large, you must neglect no circumstance of sumptuous display; the result being, that a Prince of a liberal disposition will consume his whole substance in things of this sort, and, after all, be obliged, if he would maintain his reputation for liberality, to burden his subjects with extraordinary taxes, and to resort to confiscations and all the other shifts whereby money is raised. But in this way he becomes hateful to his subjects, and growing impoverished is held in little esteem by any.

Hence, to have credit for liberality with the world at large, you must neglect no circumstance of sumptuous display; the result being, that a Prince of a liberal disposition will consume his whole substance in things of this sort, and, after all, be obliged, if he would maintain his reputation for liberality, to burden his subjects with extraordinary taxes, and to resort to confiscations and all the other shifts whereby money is raised. But in this way he becomes hateful to his subjects, and growing impoverished is held in little esteem by any. So that in the end, having by his liberality offended many and obliged few, he is worse off than when he began, and is exposed to all his original dangers.

So that in the end, having by his liberality offended many and obliged few, he is worse off than when he began, and is exposed to all his original dangers. Recognizing this, and endeavouring to retrace his steps, he at once incurs the infamy of miserliness. A Prince, therefore, since he cannot without injury to himself practise the virtue of liberality so that it may be known, will not, if he be wise, greatly concern himself though he be called miserly.

Key Concepts

• it may be a good thing to be reputed liberal, but, nevertheless, that liberality without the reputation of it is hurtful
• you must neglect no circumstance of sumptuous display; the result being, that a Prince of a liberal disposition will consume his whole substance
• burden his subjects with extraordinary taxes, and to resort to confiscations and all the other shifts whereby money is raised.
• he becomes hateful to his subjects, and growing impoverished is held in little esteem by any.
• incurs the infamy of miserliness.

Context

Chapter 16, lines 1009-1053; opening analysis of the costs of acquiring and maintaining a reputation for liberality.