Why does machiavelli say it better to be feared

New rulers cannot avoid seeming cruel, because their states are insecure. Still, a prince should not be too rash or too fearful. If you cannot be both loved and feared, then it is better to be feared than loved.

Men are generally fickle, afraid of danger, and greedy. When a prince benefits them, they will do anything for the prince, but when trouble comes, they will desert the prince.

People will break ties of love if it is to their advantage, but fear of punishment they will never transgress. A prince must be careful not to make himself hated, even though he is feared; to do this, he must keep his hands off his subjects' property and their women.

People will sooner forget the death of a father than the loss of an inheritance. However, when a prince commands an army, he must be cruel in order to control his troops. In conclusion, people love at their own wish, but fear at the prince's will, so a wise ruler will rely on what he can best control.

Continuing his discussion of virtues that are not virtues, Machiavelli considers mercy and cruelty. Arley Lewins Explainer. What impact do the words feared and hated have on the meaning of the passage? The impact that the words feared and hatred in the chapter 17 of The Prince have on the meaning of the passage is that they suggest that a ruler who is feared can retain power, while a ruler who is hated is less likely to do so.

Lorelei Thockloth Pundit. Why is it better to be loved? When you love someone, it makes you want to be a better person. You want to be the best you can be to feel worthy of his or her love.

The sensation of being in love transcends space and time. There may be more downs than ups when you love someone, but it is better to feel pain than apathy. Ireneo Vollhard Pundit. Is it better to be respected or feared? But whenever being feared is not helpful and even counter-productive to your goals, it is more preferable to be respected than the former.

There are times when respect can get you in specific situations you wouldn't find yourself in if you were feared , with finding a job being a common example. Felisa Hagenbocker Pundit. Is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? The famous quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson, "'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all " is particularly relevant.

Although romantic regret can be difficult to handle, it also serves an important purpose: it shapes the way you handle future relationships. Celiano Campomar Pundit. What was Machiavelli's purpose in writing the prince? Machiavelli advises that a prince should carefully calculate all the wicked deeds he needs to do to secure his power, and then execute them all in one stroke.

In this way, his subjects will slowly forget his cruel deeds and the prince can better align himself with his subjects. If a prince must confiscate property, he must make sure he has a convincing reason. Keeping an army disciplined and united requires cruelty, even inhuman cruelty. Chapter XV attacks the conceptions of virtue proposed by classical philosophers. Ultimately, a philosophy must be judged by its practical consequences. Because virtue, as an abstract concept, does not concern itself with such consequences, it can never serve as an effective guide for political action.

While Aristotle and others define virtue in relation to a highest good, Machiavelli defines it simply as that which receives the praise of others. Thus, generosity is a virtue only because other people praise it. From this premise, Machiavelli builds a case for the necessity of committing certain crimes. These select examples only hurt the one who gets the axe, not the general population:.

These harm the whole people, while those executions he ordered offend only the individual. A single act of punishment or dismissal is a combination of economy and effectiveness. It only affects the individual, but the entire population gets the message. Good people are often compassionate, but not strong.

Once you start giving, people expect more gifts, not fewer. Like generosity in Chapter 16, in order to keep up a reputation for clemency, you have to keep showing it more and more often or people will see you as indifferent, mean and even tyrannical. Mercy, or compassion, is as easy to overuse as is cruelty, as we saw in Chapter 8, or generosity in Chapter Overindulgence in either encourages disruption in the state.

Use them all sparingly. Newcomers, adds Machiavelli, will have a difficult time avoiding the reputation of being cruel because they were elected to make changes and changes are never easy. Machiavelli had no use for tyrants who pursued needless cruelty to subjugate a people or get their own way. He had no use for ignorance, stupidity and laziness, either. As he wrote:. Machiavelli did not advocate unnecessary cruelty or violence towards subjects, and was highly critical of rulers who abused their power.

He argued that mistreatment of people would not win loyalty, trust, or obedience, and these were necessary for the ruler to be successful. But, he said, expedient methods — cruelty and violence included — could be justifiable if there were clear and measurable benefits from those acts. Tough love, you might call it.

Love and fear are both powerful motivations. Affection, however, forges a bond of obligation where fear simply encourages obedience. Fear is what motivates obedience to laws: fear of fines, fear of imprisonment, fear of retribution and fear of social stigma. Without the fear of those consequences, people will litter, park without paying, park in handicapped spaced without permits, not pick up after their pets, they will dump excess snow on the street, play loud music at all hours and let their cars idle for hours.

All municipalities depend on a reasonable ration of fear to in order. Everyone wants to live in a safe, clean community, but not everyone feels they are responsible for keeping it that way.