Machiavelli believes it is safer to be feared than loved. He states that “it is desirable to be both, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fail one of the two” (Prince). Princes, in Machiavelli’s eyes, needs to be feared because if he fails, it is safer to be feared than to be loved. Machiavelli favors fear over love for many reasons. One of the reasons are his views on politics as well as past experiences on leaders. Growing up, Italy was divided into city states and they all battled for power. Both leaders and power would change. Machiavelli lived in Florence so he knows the leaders who were in and out of power and what they did. When he grew older, he worked
