Collected Here are four of Niccolò Machiavelli most important works. The Prince It was Niccolò Machiavelli who essentially removed ethics from government. He did it with this book when he asserted that The Prince (president dictator prime minister etc.) does not have to be concerned with ethics as long as their motivation is to protect the state. It is this questionable belief that in many ways had lead to the modern world as we know it.