In the reading of The Prince, a lot of facts were there to be learned. Machiavelli expressed all his ideas and his opinions on the period of the Renaissance and what "The Prince's" objectives and goals would have to be. In a very strong document, all his ideas would have left a big impression on the reader. He was the one to set the standard of the "Renaissance Man" and would prove his opinions in a very detailed piece of work. Machiavelli set himself to be the epitome of "The Renaissance Man" by writing about different characteristics. The characteristics I chose to talk about are emphasis on the individual and establishing rules of behavior.
Machiavelli put a lot of emphasis on what he thought the prince should be like. He based certain characteristics on the prince. For example, he quotes: "At this point one may note that men must be either pampered or annihilated. They avenge light offenses; they cannot avenge severe ones; hence, the harm one does to a man must be such as to obviate any fear of revenge."(The Prince, Chapter III) This quote refers to what situations the Prince would be faced with depending on the path he chose. The two paths here being benevolence or destruction. After this he said, if the Prince chose to be destructive, he would be making the sacrifice of losing the support of his people and their trust. He emphasizes the importance of the Prince's individuality and what path he should have to choose. Another quote, "A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war, its methods and its discipline, for that is the only art expected of a ruler. And it is of such great value that it not only keeps hereditary princes in power, but often raises men of lowly condition to that rank" (The Prince, Chapter XIV) talks about what priorities the Prince should have. According to Machiavelli, the Prince should build up a strong defense for his area of rule so that he would never be vulnerable to attack as a surprise.
