Pagina 73 di 310

Further, the prince is compelled to live always with the same

people, but he can do well without the same nobles, being able to

make and unmake them daily, and to give or take away authority

when it pleases him.

Therefore, to make this point clearer, I say that the nobles

ought to be looked at mainly in two ways: that is to say, they

either shape their course in such a way as binds them entirely to

your fortune, or they do not. Those who so bind themselves, and

are not rapacious, ought to be honoured and loved; those who do

not bind themselves may be dealt with in two ways; they may fail

to do this through pusillanimity and a natural want of courage,

in which case you ought to make use of them, especially of those

who are of good counsel; and thus, whilst in prosperity you

honour them, in adversity you do not have to fear them. But when

for their own ambitious ends they shun binding themselves, it is

a token that they are giving more thought to themselves than to

you, and a prince ought to guard against such, and to fear them

as if they were open enemies, because in adversity they always

help to ruin him.