Write a 6 pages paper on the nature of a political leader. When Machiavelli talks about a common man and his nature, he contents that men possess good and bad qualities and traits, some of which are inherent in human nature. The majority is content, happy, and trustworthy in prosperous times. However, when circumstances change, the bad qualities and traits prevail and most men quickly turn selfish, deceitful, and self-interested. Therefore, Machiavelli, repeatedly calls humans fickle creatures. He, almost ironically, notices how most people admire honor, generosity, courage, and piety without ever displaying those virtues themselves. Since most men are weak and lacking the virtue of the good citizen, they need a new leader, a heroic one, who will infuse his own virtue into all the citizens. “Thus, the miserable creatures that human beings ordinarily are or become when not properly guided, are thereby transformed into patriotic citizens, capable of sacrifice, self-exertion, and other patriotic values” (Prince, 1513). It is interesting to notice how Machiavelli, not only in the Prince, gives importance to outside factors influencing human nature. In the Prince, he asserts that men tend to be satisfied with the status quo as long as they are not victims of something terrible. Very few men express real ambition. In his other famous work, .Discourses on Livy (1517), Machiavelli writes: “Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it. but when they are free to choose and can do just as they please, confusion and disorder become rampant” (Discourses, Book 1, chapter 3, 1517). Also, in his Florentine Histories, .through the eyes of an anonymous citizen, Machiavelli describes the state of the city of Florence at the time: “The young are lazy, the old lascivious. both sexes at every age are full of foul .customs, for which good laws because they are spoiled by wicked us, are no remedy. From this grows the avarice that is seen in our citizens and the appetite, not for true glory, but for the contemptible honors in which hatreds, enmities, differences and sects depend. and from these arise deaths, exiles, persecution of the good, exaltation of the wicked” (Florentine Histories 1525).
