Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher who discussed whether it was more important to be feared or loved as a leader. He wrote The Prince where the leader discusses if it is more important for the subjects to fear him or love him in order to respect and follow his orders.
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Make a comment to the question: Is it better to be loved or feared? Please make sure you place you name at the end of your comment to get credit.
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I think it is better to be feared because if people Love you then they think you won't do anything about it when they walk all over you. But when you instill fear in them then they know they will not be able to get away with something that they do wrong. Rachael Gallo
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared as a leader because you need to gain respect amoung your people or you will get pushed around and pushed out of power. But, you cannot be hated or you will lose power because you will gain enemies. That is why you still need to give some love to those who go follow YOUR rules and do anything for YOU.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared as a leader for the people shall listen in fear of you. yet if they loved you the only motivation not to do wrong is thier own love and nothing else. which would make it easy for the people to do you wrong. that is why it is better to be feared. Andrew Mclean
ReplyDeleteFear is just a way of showing respect and inferiority toward your leader, when you fear your leader you tend to trust their decisions and a leader that would rather be loved and not feared is probably the more weaker of the two. I fear my parents but its my fear for my parents that makes me love trust respect and listen to them.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go against the grain and say it is better to be loved. Look at someone like John F Kennedy for example, he was such a beloved leader and he had no problems. Why would you want to be obeyed simply for the reason that everyone is afraid of you? It makes me question the morals of the person in charge if they think the way to rule the society is to scare people. People should obey and follow them because their ideas are just and benefit the society. Obviously if you need to make people fear you, it is because of your own insecurities. Kill them with kindness, and they have no reason to decrown you.
ReplyDeleteI think it is better to be feared because if people fear you, they'll take you more seriously. If they love you, they might take you less seriously and there's a possibility that you can get pushed around and lose your power. You have to avoid being hated because then you will have more enemies.
ReplyDeleteIt would be better to be feared because if you were loved people wouldn't take you as seriously as if you were feared. If your feared, then people will listen to you. Also people would be afraid to mess with you knowing that you would do something back or just afraid of how you would get them back.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared because to be a leader in this world you need people to be fear you, which indirectly makes them respect you. For if they love you they are more likely to take advantage of you or hurt you. Stephen Nelson
ReplyDeleteI think it is better to be feared as a leader because love goes away and comes back but if your feared it wont go away. you'll also get more respect being feared because people will know they cant walk all over you.
ReplyDeleteAs a leader, I think it's better to be feared, because then you're in control and no one wants to contradict you or you're laws. But as a person, I think it's better to be loved. If you spend you're entire life isolated because people are too afraid to get close to you, then you can live a very sad and lonely life...as a person people will have more respect for you and your ideas when you say them nicely and are a nice person.
ReplyDeleteTo be feared is better than being loved as a leader. If you are loved while being a leader, than people would walk all over you and use you because they know that you are kind hearted and would do anything for anyone. If you are feared than people would be scared of you and obey your rules because they will be scared that you will punish them. For example, Hitler was feared by Europe and that was why he gained so much power over there. People were terrified that he would kill them if they did him wrong.
ReplyDeletei think that being feared is better then being loved. be loved is good because you are around people who trust you but they can easily turn on you but if your feared people won't want to turn on you for fear of consequences.
ReplyDeleteZaire
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe it's better to be feared than loved because if someone fears you they have know choice but to respect you, and in this life time respect means everything. being loved is not necessarily a bad thing, but those people who claim they love you wont hesitate to disrespect you and take advantage of you and as a leader you do not want that to ever happen.
as machivelli said, if you cannot be loved and feared then only be feared. Though they key is to only to be feard not hated. one way to do this could be to not be violent. instead only punish those who must be punished but do it harshly. If your hated you will get thrown out of power because your own people will rise up agaianst you. although love has many beniftis too such as your people bowing down to you respectfully and willing to defend your honor at all costs. so in my opinioun it could go both ways --Joe Donohue
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared then loved. With fear the people know what you can be capable of and not only that they may not know how far you'll go. That doesn't necessarily mean that they won't respect you. If you only do vile acts when necessary then the people will have no reason to hate you. Love is a good thing but that doesn't exactly entail respect and they may just walk all overyou and nothing will ever get done. So its better to be feared then loved. -Sabrina Pfeilmeier
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared because the people that follow you will be afraid to go against you. When your loved people feel like they are your equal and they can get the courage to try and bring you down.
ReplyDeleteI believe that being feared is better than loved. Through the perspective of a leader, being loved does not always finishes the job. When loved, society sees their leader's vulnerable side, this makes being overthrown easier. Once when a leader loses his/her's power over a society, the nation falls apart.
ReplyDeleteBeing feared is better for a leader. Most leaders wouldn't want to fear his/her's people, but it is the simplest way of keeping order and protecting he people. Just because a leader is feared, does not mean he/she has the right to dictate a country. For example, Benito Mussolini, dictator of the fascist Italy in the 1920s through 1940s, was so feared by his society they rebel and brutally murdered him and his wife. A leader who is feared, should still occasionally show signs of love towards his people.
It may be difficult, but a leader should have a balance between both loved and feared. Well, the leader should be more feared but display love towards his people as a whole, not as individuals.
As a leader, I think it would be better to be loved rather than feared by your own followers. Ruling with an iron fist seems good at first but when times get hard and you become helpless, those followers will be a ot less willing to aid you in any way possible, if you rule with loving followers, their loyalty and respect will be much greater than that of ruling with fear, treat your people good and they will do good for you, but treat them like dirt and make fear you snd karmas going to strike back...charles harris
ReplyDeleteIt's better to be feared because if your trying to get love as a leader, that's giving power to the people. For the people will know that your goal is to please them, which means that you'll ive them whatever hey need because if you lose one person love., just like dominos; they all will fall. But if they feared you, you wouldn't have to be breaking your neck to please them, for they will be breaking their necks to stay on your good side, giving you the power. With Fear comes power, and with power comes respect. The people will respect you more if they fear yo because they know that you will get the job done by any means necessary and you not the type to be pushed around. For if you wanted love as a leader, you leave yourself able to be pushed around, for you fear that you will lose your followers.
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree! "To be loved is to be known and to be known is to be loved". This is a quote that I hear a lot. So I do not agree with having people or society fear you. If leaders and people in society goes about believing this, this makes me question their success. Was it forced or by nature?
ReplyDelete-Amber Taylor
A lot more feared than loved on our site...makes me think of my grandfather he use to say to me you may not love me but you will always respect him. We did both.....He was from Sicily I wonder after all these years if he was talking about The Prince to me. Mr. H
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DeleteI don't agree that in order to be a sucessful leader you must be feared i feel that to be sucessful you must have an evenly balanced amount of fear and love because if its all fear you'll be remember as Hitler was but if our all love everyone will push things over on you and you'll never be taken seriously
ReplyDelete= Tiffny Schumacher
Deleteit is better to be loved. If you don't have love then nothing else matters. Love is the driving force of every person on the planet. Unfortunately, too many love themselves and material goods so much that they seem like they are motivated by hate or greed but ultimately everything is all about love. Like the famous bible quote. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. " If you work in a office and the manager rules by fear, it is horrible, but when you love your boss you enjoy working and will do our best to make the boss happy. in conclusion it is better to be loved then feared. Nikita Samokhvalov
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I believe it is better to be loved. I think that fear is a false sense of love and only results in retaliation when one is tired of fearing something or someone. Being feared may get you many ignorant followers, but being loved will get you few loyal followers.
DeleteI believe that it is better to be feared rather than loved. With love there is the possibility of disrespect. While if you are feared you can demand love, though it might be false love it doesn't matter either way you have power over others.
ReplyDeleteShawn Ryan
I believe that it is better to be feared then loved for government reasons because it is what the person in power is doing whats best for everyone else in society. Even without government I believe it is better to be feared then loved because then that makes the other people make good decisions around you. You will also gain more respect if you are feared, if you are loved, people will think they are able to do more things then what they are given to do as an advantage.
ReplyDeleteEmily Eisenhuth
i think is better to be loved and feared because no one wants to just be feared no matter what everyone wants to be loved, and when you're loved everyone also wants to be feared, but not too feared that they're not loved, and not too loved they're not feared? -taylor
ReplyDeleteI think it is better to be feared rather than be loved in most cases because if someone is not fearful of you, they will do whatever they want. I also feel you should try your best to try and balance the two out but its difficult to do so.
ReplyDeleteI think it's better to be feared than loved when you're in power. You don't want to be feared too much because you still want to keep a connection among your peers, but when someone wants to turn on you or hurt you they are stopped by the fear they have towards you. If you are more loved than feared, your peers would see you as more of a "buddy" and think "Oh, they love me too much, they wouldn't mind if I..." People believe they can walk all over you if they do not have any force, such as fear, to stop them.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is better to be feared, i think that because if you do something bad you are scared of your parents and what they will do. If you are loved then you will be like they love me they wont do anything. Its better to be feared so that you get punished and you can learn right from wrong. Also i think that it is better to be feared then loved because if your loved people will think that they can do anything to do, but if your feared then they know that they cant get away with anything.
ReplyDeleteAs a leader, I think it is better to be feared than loved. When you are feared people won't go against you because they are afraid of the consequences. Also when you are feared you have more power and respect.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared than loved because if you are feared there is more respect, but if you are loved then there is a higher chance of being disrespected because the person that loves you knows how far they can take you. Also if you are feared you can avoid unnecessary cruelty and maintain your own power. Being feared shows your authority and you power to others. Love make you vulnerable and you can't be vulnerable when trying to be in charge.
ReplyDelete- Steph Tamulis
I believe it's better to be loved than feared. It looks like I'm one of the only ones, but I think fear only leads to rebellion. People have a natural instinct in them to prove other people wrong. Too much fear for a leader will ultimately turn to resentment, which turns to hate. Love goes hand in hand with respect, while fear does not. You can fear somebody but not respect them, but you can't love somebody without respecting them. Ruling with fear is a dictator, nine times out of ten, and that has never worked out for the good of anybody.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is better to be feared than loved because when you are loved people feel like they can take advantage of you and not care what you have to say, like if you were a ruler you would rather be feared because if you were loved nobody would take you seriously and know one wants to listen to a ruler who doesn't do his job the ruler has to keep the fear that way he still gains control and still has the trust from his fellow people. So being feared can have many advantages over love but having to much fear isn't good either so balancing out the fear is best for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think it is better to be feared then loved. I think it is better to be feared to a point where people don't hate you but still show you respect. In this world people will walk all over you if you don't respect yourself and show confidence. To be successful in this world, you need to be a leader and most leaders establish a reputation of fear and great power. Jack Provence
ReplyDeleteI think it is better to be feared because people will do whatever they can to please you and respect you. If you rather be loved then that is a sign of weakness. People are able to take advantage of you because you are seen as weak. Being feared is being powerful but you don't want to take advantage of this because it can turn against you.
ReplyDeleteI think its better to be feared then love because when your feared people do whatever you say. You have everyone's full respect and they know not to lose that. When your loved it doesn't mean your respected, so you'd rather have everyone's respect and be treated as someone with power.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared than loved. People may mistake love and kindness as weakness, thus showing no respect. When people fear a man, they are virtually inclined to respect him, although they might not even like him as a result.
ReplyDeleteI think it is better to be feared rather than loved, even though I would prefer the opposite. When you're feared, people are afraid to act out in front of you; they only want to please you. In order to get things done and accomplished, people work better out of fear. When you are loved, people can tend to take advantage of you because they know your love will always be intact. Of course, a perfect balance would be satisfactory, but that will not always happen. In the world we live in today with society, it is an advantage to be feared.
ReplyDeleteI believe that is is better to be feared if you are a president, king or someone who is supposed to have power over people because the fear in the people will make them agree with what you say and obey. If your a parent or just a regular person I think love is better. I personally would rather be loved because I wouldnt want anyone that i didnt fear to fear me unless i gave them a reason to as long as respect was shown towards me
ReplyDeleteAs a leader, I think you need to be both feared and loved. If you want respect and for people to listen to commands, it is essential to be feared. When the fear diminishes, the people you thought had your best interest in mind become fake and walk all over you. Even though fear is important to get a job done, I feel you need love to proceed through life. At the end of the day, love is the only quality that keeps people true. Without love you have no true followers, so you need both fear and love to be the best possible leader.
ReplyDeleteIn most of these readings the writer states that it is better to have fear then to have love, even though it is very important to have both. They feel fear is better because there is less crime, but to have too much fear then it can make you hated by your people which would not be good. I feel it is better to be loved then feared because there is more loyalty and respect, then fearing someone and being their slave. Being loved shows a equal playing ground and more trust.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be more feared than loved because if you are feared people will not try to get rid of you for fear of punishment. Also if you ae loved as well people will walk all over you. Being feared while not being hated is the in the middle and where people will not go against you.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is better to be loved than feared because there is a way to love your people, and have them love you while also having their respect. In my family, I do not fear anyone, and I do what I am told out of respect for their feelings and mine, and also to avoid any conflict within the house. There is a difference between fear and respect, and if someone finds that balance, then they will not be pushed over or schemed against, because in the end, the good guy always wins somehow, even if it isn't apparent at first. If you instill fear into your people as a leader, I think it just creates an environment of resentment that will push everyone to their breaking points, and thus they will most likely try to push you out of power.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be feared than loved because if you're going to rule a nation, you want respect. If you are loved and become everybody's friend, no one's going to respect you. They see no consequences in their actions and walk all over you. If you instill a sense of fear, you will gain their respect. They will see that if they act in a way that they shouldn't, they will be punished. -Mike Chmielowski
ReplyDeleteI think the question has different answers depending on the context. If your main goal is to be a leader than it is better to be feared than it is to be loved. The leader is typically in charge for a reason. He doesn't think in terms of individual people and their emotions, but instead he thinks of the group as a whole and the common good. Therefore he must make the difficult decisions and sacrifices that no one else is willing to make; it is because of those qualities that he is even considered a leader. Here Machiavelli emphasizes that you can still be feared but not hated, which would mean making those difficult decisions, but being respected for it rather than hated because they were made for the greater good of the group on a whole. A leader who would rather be loved is now wary of each individual's emotions and complaints, and will find himself conflicted as he attempts to secure the well being of the group as well as each individual.
ReplyDeleteIt might be better to be loved if you aren't responsible for the people who love you. There's probably a balance, as Machiavelli says, but that balance is difficult to achieve.
It is better to be feared than loved, but I do not believe that fear needs to be as extreme as it seems to imply. A leader should be feared in the same way that one is afraid of their parent, not fear for the sake of fear, but fear when you have done something wrong. A leader needs to willing to give cause for people to inspire, within their own being, fear of reprisal. That being said, this fear must exist beyond a ruler's own borders, other nations must fear the threat of counter action or the cost of an invasion (be it in blood or currency). In both of these placed though, a ruler cannot afford to be sloppy. S/he (and their nation, if international) must be expected to act, but should not be expected to act without reason. When Machiavelli says a leader must be feared, he adds that they cannot afford to be hated, but if a leader doles out meaningless death, thievery, and other such acts, they will be hated and they will be over thrown (with time). For an example, look at the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the time, we had a relatively young president, and the Kremlin saw him as being naive of weak, but America was willing to flex it's muscles. JFK was not afraid to put an embargo on Cuba, despite the fact that he risked nuclear war. It was the thought that JFK would not react as he did that drove Soviet Russia, but it was (in part) JFK's resolve that scared them out of the act.
ReplyDeleteagain, I apologize for errors in my grammar or spelling.
It is better to be feared because fear does not have a weakness, Love is a good thing but it can be changed. Love can also cause pain or get you hurt. But with fear, there is no pain. Someone who fears you would not dare to hurt you. The fear inside them makes them even more scared of the consequences if they ever tried to do so. They will be too scared to make an attempt. Love can cause fear to look weak. Love makes your more vulnerable but fear makes you look strong at all times
ReplyDeleteIn this article, Machiavelli makes his point that leaders should want to be feared. I don't think this is because Machiavelli is a cruel person; rather, he recognizes through logic that a loved leader will too often find internal conflict at many of the decisions that leaders are actually there to make. With fear comes respect and the expectation of the decisions in favor of the common good.
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