Your complimentary articles

You’ve read all of your complimentary articles for this month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please

If you are a subscriber please sign in to your account.

To buy or renew a subscription please visit the Shop.

If you are a print subscriber you can contact us to create an online account.

Philosophical Haiku

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)

by Terence Green

Better to be feared
Than seek friendship through kindness.
A prince has no friends

Portrait of Machiavelli by Santi Di Tito

Today his name is associated with all that’s dirty, underhanded and despicable in politics. We even call the Devil ‘Old Nick’ after him. But Niccolo Machiavelli was actually a really nice guy.

…