To keep a minister good, a prince must honor, enrich, and bind him with benefits, share both honors and burdens, and load him with responsibilities that attach his interest to the prince and make him dread change; mutual trust follows, while neglect breeds ruin for one or the other.

By Niccolò Machiavelli, from The Prince

Key Arguments

  • Consideration, dignifying, enriching, and binding by benefits secure a minister’s loyalty.
  • Sharing honors as well as burdens aligns incentives and recognition.
  • Abundant honors and wealth divert ministers from seeking them elsewhere.
  • Great responsibilities create dependence on the prince and fear of change, since the minister cannot stand alone.
  • When this footing exists, prince and minister can mutually trust; otherwise, one of them will fare ill.

Source Quotes

For he who has the charge of the State committed to him, ought not to think of himself, but only of his Prince, and should never bring to the notice of the latter what does not directly concern him. On the other hand, to keep his Minister good, the Prince should be considerate of him, dignifying him, enriching him, binding him to himself by benefits, and sharing with him the honours as well as the burthens of the State, so that the abundant honours and wealth bestowed upon him may divert him from seeking them at other hands; while the great responsibilities wherewith he is charged may lead him to dread change, knowing that he cannot stand alone without his master’s support. When Prince and Minister are upon this footing they can mutually trust one another; but when the contrary is the case, it will always fare ill with one or other of them.
On the other hand, to keep his Minister good, the Prince should be considerate of him, dignifying him, enriching him, binding him to himself by benefits, and sharing with him the honours as well as the burthens of the State, so that the abundant honours and wealth bestowed upon him may divert him from seeking them at other hands; while the great responsibilities wherewith he is charged may lead him to dread change, knowing that he cannot stand alone without his master’s support. When Prince and Minister are upon this footing they can mutually trust one another; but when the contrary is the case, it will always fare ill with one or other of them.

Key Concepts

  • On the other hand, to keep his Minister good, the Prince should be considerate of him, dignifying him, enriching him, binding him to himself by benefits, and sharing with him the honours as well as the burthens of the State,
  • so that the abundant honours and wealth bestowed upon him may divert him from seeking them at other hands;
  • while the great responsibilities wherewith he is charged may lead him to dread change, knowing that he cannot stand alone without his master’s support.
  • When Prince and Minister are upon this footing they can mutually trust one another; but when the contrary is the case, it will always fare ill with one or other of them.

Context

Chapter 22, lines 1525-1549; incentive design to secure ministerial fidelity and the conditions for mutual trust.