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I claim, then, that for the failing for which writers blame the masses, any body of men one cares to select may be blamed, and especially princes; for anyone who does not regulate his conduct by laws will make the same mistakes as the masses are guilty of (Machiavelli, The Discourses 252).
on this level, princes and the masses are equal. Many writers have claimed that the masses are fickle, but machiavelli argues with this idea:
For when the populace is in power and is well-ordered, it will be stable, prudent and grateful, in much the same way, or in a better way, than is a prince, however wise he be thought. And, on the other hand, a prince who contemns the laws, will be more ungrateful, fickle and imprudent than is the populace (Machiavelli, The Discourses 254).
Princes may be superior in drawing up laws, says Machiavelli, but the people are superior
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