Machiavelli's "The Prince" chapter 18--In What Way Princes Should Keep Their Word

IN WHAT WAY PRINCES SHOULD KEEP THEIR WORD Although frankness is praised over craftiness, history shows that leaders who practiced deceit overcame those that lived by their pledges. There can be identified two ways of fighting: by law, which is proper for men and by force, which is proper for animals. A prince must know how to fight both ways in order to be successful. Furthermore a price is competing as an animal both sly …

…whole, it is most praiseworthy of a prince to be considered trustworthy and not be cunning. Nevertheless, in real life, princes that used cunning are always more successful than those princes that are always be trusted fully. Everything a prince says must be filled with these five qualities: being merciful, be trustworthy, being religious, being kind, and lastly being honest. A prince should exhibit these five main virtues for keeping the authority, should not he?