“It is better to be feared than loved. If you cannot be both.” according to Niccolo Michiavelli in his book “The Prince”. This quotation seems to be quite strange for us modern readers.
Now two things are being compared in the above-cited quotation: one is fear, and the other is love. But it seems that Machiavelli prefer fear over love. Why this is so and why in the first place did he reached such an opinion or conclusion?
The Idea Of Fear
There is no argument that fears and love are human emotion. Fear and love are not only human emotions but very powerful human emotions indeed.
We human beings fear for something that we do not know and understand about. For it is innate in us to fear the unknown. Fear for that matter can either be positive or negative motivating factors for us to act or not to act.
Fear primarily attacks our mind and makes us feel not to use our power of reason. When we lose our reasoning power then our judgment becomes faulty, and when it becomes faulty for sure there will be errors or mistake in our judgment.
But what does Machiavelli mean when he used the word “fear”? How does one inspire fear in the minds of other people? Does he mean or does Machiavelli equate fear with the word respect and obedience from others?
One may ask, why do we need to be feared by others in the first place? Do you want yourself to be fear by others and in the process commands respect from others?
The Idea Of Love
What does Machiavelli exactly mean by the word “love”? Does he mean to be like and to be popular? Or is Machiavelli referring to the different kind or degree of love: eros, phila, agape or storge as these term or words are known in the Greek world?
Eros which means more on sexual or romantic love; philia pertain more on friendship; agape is more of divine love i.e. love of God to man and love of man to God; while storge is said to be the love or affection existing between parents and children.
One may ask what’s wrong with love as another kind of human emotions. Is love a sign of human weakness for it is characterize by soft and tender feelings that could be exploited or be abused?
One may also ask the question within the context of the said Machiavellian quotation if it is better to spread fear or to spread love around the world.
In our modern times, the idea of being feared seems to be anachronistic and not in accordance with human free will, much less the concept of democracy and individual rights and freedom.
For fear implies force, coercion, duress or anything that is high handed and also connotes inequality between the parties involve.
Reduce to its lowest term fear and love may be translated into the constant battle between Good and Evil.
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View Comments
The two emotions are I think opposites.
I don't want respect, if it comes from the person's fear of me. On the first place, I don't want to be feared by a person. It gives me the feeling that I am cruel. Nobody wants to be perceived as cruel.
I want to be loved not feared. Because when one is loved by people, respect comes naturally from them to you. They respect you because you have lovable traits that endeared them to you, like you are kind and a compassionate person.