004. Statecraft
[text]...Whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is that one would like to be both the one and the other; but because it is difficult to combine them, it is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.... Men worry less about doing an injury to one who makes himself loved than to one who makes himself feared. The bond of love is one which men, wretched creatures that they are, break when it is to their advantage to do so; but fear is strengthened by a dread of punishment which is always effective.
The prince should nonetheless make himself feared in such a way that, if he is not loved, he at least escapes being hated. For fear is quite compatible with an absence of hatred....
So, on this question of being loved or feared, I conclude that since some men love as they please but fear when the prince pleases, a wise prince should rely on what he controls, not on what he cannot control. He should only endeavor, as I said, to escape being hated.
--The Prince, XVII. Cruelty and compassion, and whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse
I don't think Machiavelli took insanity into account.
The prince should nonetheless make himself feared in such a way that, if he is not loved, he at least escapes being hated. For fear is quite compatible with an absence of hatred....
So, on this question of being loved or feared, I conclude that since some men love as they please but fear when the prince pleases, a wise prince should rely on what he controls, not on what he cannot control. He should only endeavor, as I said, to escape being hated.
--The Prince, XVII. Cruelty and compassion, and whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse
I don't think Machiavelli took insanity into account.