Liber I, Pars II — Quot, et quae oporteat habere regem, si debeat esse prudens. Cap. VIII.

Liber I, Pars II — Quot, et quae oporteat habere regem, si debeat esse prudens. Cap. VIII.

Since no whole can ever be perfectly complete unless its parts are present, if someone is to be perfectly wise, they must have all that contributes to wisdom and all its parts. It has been established that there are eight parts of wisdom: namely, memory, foresight, understanding, reason, cleverness, teachability, experience, and caution. Therefore, if a king or a prince is to be wise, he must be mindful, prudent, understanding, reasonable, clever, teachable, experienced, and cautious. These eight qualities, which are said to be parts of wisdom, can be understood in this way. For if a king is to guide a people toward good, he must have a memory of the past and foresight for the future. Therefore, it is important to consider four aspects: namely, the goods to which he directs, the manner in which he directs, the person who is directing, and the people he is directing. Regarding the goods he directs toward, the king must be mindful and prudent; regarding the manner in which he directs, he must be understanding and reasonable; regarding the person directing others, he must be clever and teachable; and regarding the people he directs, it is fitting that he be experienced and cautious. For if a king is to guide a people toward good, he must have a memory of the past and foresight for the future. A king must have a memory of the past, for no one can change what has already happened, but it is fitting for a king to remember the past so that he can understand what should happen in the future. For, as it is written in the second book of Rhetoric, in contingent matters, future events are often similar to past ones. Secondly, it is proper for him to have foresight of future events, because those who foresee future goods must devise ways to achieve them easily. Therefore, regarding the goods to which the king must direct his people, it is essential that he has foresight of future events so that he can more easily attain those future goods, and that he has a memory of the past so that he knows what actions he should take in the future. In terms of the manner in which he directs, he must have understanding and reason, or he must be intelligent and rational. The manner in which the king directs his people must be humane, for the king himself is a man. For a man understands by reasoning and deliberating. For he accepts certain principles and premises, from which he draws intended conclusions, both in speculative matters and in practical ones. For just as arguments arise to demonstrate what is true to be known, so arguments arise to persuade what is good to pursue. Therefore, regarding this kind of knowledge, which is inherent to humans who wish to direct others, it is necessary that one be intelligent, understanding principles and premises, and rational, reasoning and drawing conclusions from those premises. Or it is necessary that one be intelligent, knowing the laws and good customs, and other things that can serve as principles and rules of action. However, it is necessary that one be rational, speculating on what is appropriate to do based on those rules. Thus, regarding the goods to which one directs, it is necessary for the king to be mindful and prudent; similarly, regarding the manner in which he directs, he must be intelligent and rational. But regarding his own person, which directs others, it is necessary that he be skillful and teachable. For one who is placed at such a height, to govern such a people, must be industrious and skillful, so that he knows how to find the good of the people entrusted to him. Indeed, since no one is sufficient to devise all that can be useful for the entire kingdom, it is necessary for the king to be skillful in his own right, knowing what is beneficial for the kingdom through careful consideration, and he must also be teachable, yielding to the counsel of others. We can say about a king what is said about the Magnanimous. In the Ethics, it is not fitting for him to flee what disturbs him. For it is not fitting for a king to follow his own judgment in everything, nor to rely solely on his own cleverness; rather, he must be teachable so that he can grasp the teachings of others by yielding to the doctrines and counsels of barons, elders, wise men, and those caring for the kingdom. It is clear, therefore, that by reason of his own person, which directs others, a king must be clever and teachable. But with respect to the people he directs, it is necessary for him to be experienced and cautious. Experience, in fact, is knowledge of particular things. Just as there are different matters and different particulars, and just as someone conducts business concerning one people and another, there are different things to be sought out. Therefore, it is necessary for a prince, with respect to the people he presides over, to be experienced, knowing the particular conditions of the people entrusted to him, so that he may be able to direct them better toward their due end. Finally, he must be cautious. For just as false things are sometimes mixed in with true things in matters to be contemplated, which is why they are believed to be true, even though they are not true but only appear to be true; so in matters to be acted upon, bad things are often mixed in with good things, which is why they are believed to be good, even though they are not good but only appear to be good. Therefore, the king must be cautious, rejecting things that merely seem good and choosing good things simply, to which he ought to direct the people entrusted to him.