Niccolo Machiavelli – BBC Documentary

Born in 1469 in Florence, Italy, Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian. He lived during the Renaissance. Famous for his political treatise The Prince, Machiavelli is considered the father of modern political philosophy and political science. His work written about 1513 inspired the term Machiavellian.
But that same work also brought him a reputation as an atheist and an immoral cynic. He believed that public and private morality had to be understood as two different things in order to rule well.
Niccolo believed that a ruler must be concerned not only with reputation, but also must be positively willing to act unscrupulously at the right times. This is where the quote “the ends justifies the means” comes from.
Machiavelli also believed that leaders should be feared rather than loved. That is, if you cannot be both. You are better to be feared in order to avoid a revolt. But he believed leaders should have the support of the people because it is difficult to take action without their support.