"It is better to be feared than loved, if
you cannot be both."
- Niccolo
Machiavelli (1469-1527), "The Prince"
CONSIDER: This incredibly famous quotation has been both followed by some, and openly denied by other leaders in the history of the world. In your mind, is a better leader one who is feared or loved? Do fear and love have their place in leadership and governance?
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You have until Monday, October 29, 2012 @ 5:00 PM to comment on this posting. At 5:00 comments will close.
I think that what Machiavelli is saying, is that if you love somebody, they are able to break your heart more than someone that you don't love. If you can't handle that happening to you, the best thing to do, according to Macheiavelli, is making them fear you. When someone fears you, they avoid you, so you won't be hurt. That's probably why some people in this world chose to isolate themselves, because they have already been hurt and don't want to experience that again.
ReplyDeleteI think its better to be feared by the people you want to be scared and make sure you know which people you love.I think fear and love are like oxymoron's so for a leader be both, I rather just be one which is loved.
ReplyDeleteI think it is better to be loved by the people, because it will help you in the future. It will make the people think you are a great leader, but fear does come to the leadership. There has to be some boundaries in the leadership.
ReplyDeletebrandon grudecki 9th
ReplyDeletei think fear comes when power has taken over someones life and makes them greedy.but love is when someone knows how to control there urge to become greedy.
I think in order to be a good leader you must have people that feared you but also love you. I say this because, if you only had people loved you then you would all was try to make decisions to keep people to love you which is impossible. I would rather be feared then loved, here’s a good example let’s use the president, he wants to be loved by his country but he must be feared by other countries. The best leaders in the world are the ones who can have both ones who feared and love them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with vanakoleyen. A good leader is loved and also feared. As leader of those who love you, you might want to everything you can to make them happy and make decisions that will only benefit them. A leader shouldn't do that. He should make decisions that will benefit the country or whatever he/she is governing as a whole. I believe that someone who is feared, is someone who is respected so it is good to have that as well. Good leaders are both feared and respected.
ReplyDeletefrom T_Cute:
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on what the situation is..For example if your the leader of the cheerleading team,and your always nice and never yell,basically you would never hurt a fly.The rest of the team would not listen to you,or follow directions,,sometimes you have to put a little bit of fear into people in order to get the response that your looking for.But then again every body needs love.
ok, i agree with t_cute, if you are a leader, you shouldnt be like "omg,i love you all so much, i could never hurt you," thing. i belive you should have both. so you're like "i love you all but go against me and i will show little mercy for you." that way people know how you operate. but, to answer the question, i believe it depends on the situation. but i see many people who have both, like my mom. i love and fear her slightly because i know what she would do if i were to cross the line. i would personally would prefer to be feared. like the quote "its better to loved, than to have never loved at all." i would prefer to not love at all if the other option is to lose the love you once had. so if i was loved, that might not stop everyone from going against me. ever heard of domestic violence. i remember someone on TV said, " i love you so much, i would kill you." if you are feared, that will put hesitation in their heart. they would now the consequence if they do whatever they were going to do. plus people don't have to be all miserable if they fear you. they would just know not to do it. but that's just me.
ReplyDeleteit better to me loved than feared because if your loved than everybody will take care of you, be there when you need them the most. if your feared nobody will like you and nobody will ever care for you, no body will help you. So it better to be loved
ReplyDeletefrom jortiz16:
ReplyDeleteI think this is so true if you love some one they might take advantage and make a greater damage than other people and if you are feared their words will mean nothing towards you but at the same time it would be better to reamain both ways.