Review Of Machiavelli's 'Prince'

While reading chapter 17, I began to realize where Machiavelli is coming from from when he states it’s better to be feared than loved. He believes a prince should be cruel to gain respect from his subjects. He states “…it is desirable to be both [loved and feared], but becasie it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fail at once of the two.” If a prince is generous and loved by his people, they will leave him as soon as trouble draws near. If a prince is wise enough to be horrendous and thretening towards his subjects, there is a strong possibly no one will flee when times get tough. Also, Machiavelli believes that even thoguh a prince is cruel and installes fear in his subjects, God will apprehend his actions and eventually lead him on a path to heaven. …show more content…
There are many great leaders around the world who have practiced being both loved and feared and still came out to be successful. For example, in the United States, our leaders have always been loved by many of the citizens. But in other countries, people might fear our leader due to the decions made my their leaders. In other countries, such as North Korea, the leaders are much more feared than loved. Even though they believed they are respected, in most cases, they arent. After being fearful for so long, the residents of the country will eventually begin to hate their leader. Machiavelli says that a prince should be feared but not hated. Once he is hated, he is prone to failure. His subjects will quickly lose respect for him and his laws and this will ultimately result in rebellion. A prince should be feared but in a way he doent lose the love and respect his subjects have for