Lehal Library

the prince for you, when his policies are all designed to enhance his own interests, then he’ll never make a good minister and you’ll never be able to trust him. A minister running a state must never think of himself, only of the ruler, and should concen- trate exclusively on the ruler’s business. To make sure he does so, the ruler, for his part, must take an interest in the minister, grant him wealth and respect, oblige him and share honours and appointments with him. That way the minister will see that he can’t survive without the ruler. He’ll have so many honours he won’t want any more, so much wealth he won’t look for more, and so many appointments that he’ll guard against any change of the status quo. When rulers and their ministers arrange their relationships this way, they can trust each other. When they don’t, one or the other is bound to come to a bad end.