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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Prince summary
Niccolò Machiavelli
Machiavelli's classic text on leadership and politics
4.6 (278 ratings)
24 mins
11 key ideas
Audio & text
What is The Prince about?
The Prince is a 16th century guide on how to be an autocratic leader of a country. It explains why ends like glory and power always justify even brutal means for princes. Thanks to this book, the word “Machiavellian” came to mean using deceit and cunning to one’s advantage.
About the Author
Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance politician and writer living in Florence in the early 16th century. When the influential Medici family regained control over the city, he found himself unemployed, and The Prince was his job application to the new administration.
Table of Contents
The Prince
summarized in 11 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 11
To sustain his new principality, a prince must make his subjects feel valued while guarding against rivals.
Imagine you’re a renaissance prince who has just conquered a new territory. The population of this new principality probably doesn’t want you as their ruler and sees you as an invader and outsider. So how would you keep them under control?
The first rule for a prince is that you should always try to move to the principality yourself. The proximity to their new prince will make the locals feel appreciated, while simultaneously discouraging rivals from trying to reclaim the area.
If you cannot move yourself, the second best option is to send a colony of your own subjects to live in the principality. This way your new subjects will become accustomed to the ways of your people and slowly adapt their society accordingly.
A second rule is that you must always take measures to protect yourself from potential rivals to your power. To achieve this measure, adopt a policy of defending weak leaders around your new principality. If you protect them against more powerful enemies, they will gladly join your new state too and an alliance of such states can be powerful enough to challenge the more powerful leaders and states in the area who could otherwise threaten your power as well.
The third rule is that you must constantly be on guard for future threats: be vigilant and take preemptive action. Just like illnesses are easier to treat in the beginning, so is it easier to halt the advance of an overly zealous rival early in their attack, such as after the first step.
The ancient Romans used this tactic when they occupied Greece. They would allow no single local leader to grow more powerful than the others, no matter how loyal the leader was to the Romans.
The importance of these rules can be seen in the plight of Louis XII of France who invaded Northern Italy. After successfully conquering the land, he then rapidly lost control of it because he violated all of the above rules. Don’t repeat his mistake.
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Best quote from The Prince
Anyone who is the cause of another becoming powerful comes to ruin himself.
—Niccolò Machiavelli
Who should read The Prince
- Anyone who wants to understand how autocratic leaders think
- Anyone interested in political philosophy/history
- Anyone who wants to know what truly cold, amoral leadership looks like
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