Machiavelli
The Prince
23
How
Flatterers Must Be Shunned
I
must not omit an important subject, and mention of a mistake which princes
can with difficulty avoid, if they are not very prudent, or if they do not
make a good choice. And this is with regard to flatterers, of which courts
are full, because men take pleasure in their own things and deceive
themselves about them that they can with difficulty guard against this
plague; and by wishing to guard against it they run the risk of becoming
contemptible. Because there is no other way of guarding one’s self
against flattery than by letting men understand that they will not offend
you by speaking the truth; but when every one can tell you the truth, you
lose their respect. A prudent prince must therefore take a third course,
by choosing for his council wise men, and giving these alone full liberty
to speak the truth to him, but only of those things that he asks and of
nothing else; but he must ask them about everything and hear their
opinion, and afterwards deliberate by himself in his own way, and in these
councils and with each of these men comport himself so that every one may
see that the more freely he speaks, the more he will be acceptable. Beyond
these he should listen to no one, go about the matter deliberately, and be
determined in his decisions. Whoever acts otherwise either acts
precipitately through flattery or else changes often through the variety
of opinions, from which it follows that he will be little esteemed.
I
will give a modern instance of this. Pre’ Luca, a follower of
Maximilian, the present emperor, speaking of his majesty said that he
never took counsel with anybody, and yet that he never did anything as he
wished; this arose from his following the contrary method to the
aforesaid. As the emperor is a secret man he does not communicate his
designs to any one or take any advice, but as on putting them into effect
they begin to be known and discovered, they begin to be opposed by those
he has about him, and he is easily diverted from his purpose. Hence it
comes to pass that what he does one day he undoes the next, no one ever
understands what he wishes or intends to do, and no reliance is to be
placed on his deliberations.
A
prince, therefore, ought always to take counsel, but only when he wishes,
not when others wish; on the contrary he ought to discourage absolutely
attempts to advise him unless he asks it, but he ought to be a great
asker, and a patient hearer of the truth about those things of which he
has inquired; indeed, if he finds that any one has scruples in telling him
the truth he should be angry. And since some think that a prince who gains
the reputation of being prudent is so considered, not by his nature but by
the good counselors he has about him, they are undoubtedly deceived. It is
an infallible rule that a prince who is not wise himself cannot be well
advised, unless by chance he leaves himself entirely in the hands of one
man who rules him in everything, but happens to be a very prudent man. In
this case he may doubtless be well governed, but it would not last long,
for that governor would in a short time deprive him of the state; but by
taking counsel with many, a prince who is not wise will never have united
councils and will not be able to bring them to unanimity for himself. The
counselors will all think of their own interests, and he will be unable
either to correct or to understand them. And it cannot be otherwise, for
men will always be false to you unless they are compelled by necessity to
be true. Therefore it must be concluded that wise counsels, from whoever
they come, must necessarily be due to the prudence of the prince, and not
the prudence of the prince to the good counsels received.