VI. However, it is not enough for the prince to think only of preserving and perfecting the body of every contributor[^1] to the state’s wealth; there is another kind of necessity that is not less important than the one I just spoke about. This is the nourishment[^2] that all men owe each other with regard to their minds, which I showed in the preceding chapter where I demonstrated that it is not less necessary for our (273) wealth than nourishing the body, since it is not possible for the body to perform its functions without the help of the mind. That is why it is easy to understand that in a state the prince or the government not only have an obligation to, but also a great interest in, applying themselves so that this education[^3] is perfect and everyone has their share in proportion to the functions of the body and the contribution to the public good.
Would the prince understand his true interests if he thought it did not matter if all the people were well or poorly fed and clothed, or if poverty made a large number of them languish and perish? Even less must he believe that cultivating and educating[^4] the minds of the contributors[^5] to his state’s wealth (274) are things that do not particularly concern him and that he must abandon to the discretion of each individual. Experience reveals to us everyday that a man who is well-educated in any sort of craft or profession whatsoever often produces more in a day than another in a week; and consequently, the better the minds of the contributors[^6] to the state’s wealth are educated[^7] and cultivated, the more this wealth will increase and make progress. Here is the stuff for a very ample essay to show the flaws of public schools and their need of reform and to demonstrate how much they teach useless sciences, so many nonsensical things, obscurities and difficulties, which only result (275) in uselessly passing the time and stopping the state’s wealth. But since there are whole books in which the authors clearly demonstrate the need for and the usefulness of correcting the said flaws by adapting all the sciences to the good of the state, I will limit myself here to the principles and the main points in order to show what everything that a prince could establish in this regard must amount to. Everything that there is to say on this subject will only be a continuation or an application of what I mentioned in the preceding chapter.
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